Time's Fire
by The Green Sword
Summary: AU In the year 2020, Luthor is taking over and Lois Lane is alone. There is no Superman. With the help of Kara and Jor-El, Lois goes back in time to enable Clark’s superhero status and a corrected future. This means Lana Lang’s influence must be removed.
1. The Future

AU In the year 2020, Luthor is taking over and Lois Lane is alone. There is no Superman. With the help of Kara and Jor-El, Lois goes back in time to enable Clark's superhero status and a corrected future. This means Lana Lang's influence must be removed. Inspired partially by "Apocalypse," _Imzadi_ by Peter David, and the current stupidity while Lana is back. I miss Lois!

**Time's Fire**

"_Time is the fire in which we burn." _ ~Delmore Schwartz

"_Time is making fools of us again."_ ~J.K. Rowling

"_Can't repeat the past? Why, of course you can!" _~Jay Gatsby

*****

Lois Lane was working late, yet again. It seemed like no matter how hard she worked to dig up dirt and try to make a difference; she just couldn't find enough hours in the day. Everyone else had already headed home, leaving the underground bunker through the various secret entrances and hoping that the squads of Enforcers weren't making their rounds. Lois wasn't the head of this operation, but since she always stayed late anyways she had gotten the added responsibility of locking the bunker for the night.

She perused the little information she actually had on this story. Only a mere matter of hours ago, Lex Luthor had managed to twist the US Constitution into making him some sort of dictator. Lois had contacted her sources in the government, the few who were still alive, but they were far too busy themselves to enlighten her on how this was actually possible. Everyone at the small resistance organization, which called themselves The Truth, had spent all day trying to find some legitimate facts about what had happened in the capital. They had had very little success. It seemed Luthor was getting better at blocking leaking information.

Lois mostly concentrated her time on the small newspaper the organization put out, _Truth's Witness._ It was dangerous work. Sources often didn't show or were found dead at places where the resistance workers were supposed to meet them. On worse days, some resistance workers didn't make it back to the bunker at all and were never seen again. Even if the sources did show and a story could be written, printing the newspaper took time and funding. Distributing the newspaper was a nightmare every week. They had to work quickly and quietly to spread their information.

Lois had been relatively lucky so far; she had only been arrested for suspicious behavior three times in the last two weeks. Prior to that, she had at least managed to keep all of her limbs, although she was missing her left pinky finger due to a particularly bad torture session. It only affected her typing speed, though.

Luthor's rise had been slow and methodical over the years. This had kept the populace unaware of what was really going on and had allowed Luthor to extensively expand his power. Lois had left the Daily Planet six years ago, fed up with how much Luthor was controlling the press and stifling her stories, in particular. She couldn't just sit back and watch him destroy the country without doing anything about it. She had found her current job with _Truth's Witness_ by stumbling into some old co-workers who had convinced her to join once they had learned of her hatred for Luthor. She didn't regret the decision; she was just tired of living in the shadows all the time.

This life that she had now…there was something not right about it. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

She sighed and stirred the coffee that had turned cold and stale hours ago. There was nothing more she could do on this story tonight. This whole feeling of powerlessness was beginning to get to her more and more. She had found a gray hair while looking in her cracked bathroom mirror this morning and hadn't even bothered to pull it out. What was the point? There was no time to think about the future as she worked frantically to keep a handle on the present. Distant memories of the past were all she allowed herself to occasionally indulge in.

Lois thought about making some more calls to try and press for more information, but then the phantom pain kicked up again in her missing finger. This was usually the sign that she was nearing complete exhaustion and needed to head home. She looked reluctantly around the bunker. They had been making so little headway lately. She had long given up her idealistic dreams that some mysterious hero would streak down from the sky and right all the wrongs in the world. It just wasn't possible.

She shut down her ancient excuse for a computer and packed up her papers and files. She locked the files in the cabinet along the wall and made sure that nothing on her drab desk could connect her to this place. She grabbed her set of the bunker keys and moved around the perimeter, locking the entrances. Once they were all locked she went to the entrance that led to the bar. This would be the only way in for the next morning. The green light was glowing, indicating that it was safe to use. She ran a hand through her hair, adjusted her purse, and began to climb the ladder.

The hatch at the top of the ladder opened on the floor of a storeroom in the back of the bar. She closed the hatch behind her and pushed a tall column of heavy boxes over the hatch to further hide it from view. She picked her way through the storeroom to the door. After checking through the eyehole to make sure the coast was clear, she pushed open the door and closed it quickly behind her. It locked automatically.

Even though her "finger" was throbbing, she decided she needed a drink after the day she had just had. Few in the bar would actually know the full extent of what had happened in the government. She wanted to pretend that she was blissfully unaware of the full awfulness of the world. She wished she only had to worry about making money and staying safe. Those who could still only worry about those things were far luckier than she was.

Lois saw a couple of her colleagues in the bar, but it was policy not to interact outside of work. If someone were watching one of them it would lead to more trouble for the whole organization if the Enforcers could draw connections between people. She took a stool at the end of the bar, wondering if she could hold herself to only get one drink before heading home. She checked her watch and swore silently. It was already last call with the new curfews imposed on the city. Lois hated curfews.

"What will ya have?" the bartender asked. He was fully cooperative with The Truth, although secretly, of course.

"Whiskey sour," Lois replied glumly. Why was it that now all she wanted to do was sit here and drink herself into oblivion?

"Lois Lane?" a woman's voice said behind her.

She tensed, dreading the identity of whoever it was. She was in no position to run from the Enforcers right now. Her mind raced, trying to think of possible escape routes from the bar. She didn't have many choices. She turned around slowly, her heart racing.

"Holy frak! Kara?" Lois whispered when she finally recognized the woman in front of her. She hadn't seen her in what felt like a decade. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you had been disappeared years ago!"

Kara looked furtively around, obviously uncomfortable, before taking the stool next to Lois. "No, I'm fine. I've been away for some time, doing my own work abroad."

Lois narrowed her eyes. Something seemed off about Kara. She wondered if Kara was up to something. Luthor had been fond of her in the past. "Oh really?"

Kara must have noticed the coldness in her tone. "Yes. I just came back to look for Kal—Clark and I found…this. I went to the Fortress and tried to talk to Jor-El, but he only told me to find you. This is terribly wrong, Lois. What happened?"

Lois had no idea what the fortress or this el person was that Kara was talking about. Her mind was still caught on the name that she hadn't allowed herself to say out loud for years. Clark Kent was someone she tried to forget every single day of her life. "This is the result of Lex Luthor's presidency. His regime has taken over the whole country and is working on the rest of the world. You really have been gone a long time. A lot has changed…everything has changed." Her voice took on a hollow tone as she struggled to tell Kara. "I haven't heard from Martha Kent in at least…a decade now. I want to believe she's still alive somewhere. Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow both vanished about eight years ago. Oliver's body was found in a lake nine months later. Chloe died six years ago under torture by the Enforcers. I was sent the video that showed the whole thing. Jimmy disappeared three years ago. I have no idea what happened to him."

Kara looked sick. "What about Clark?"

Lois got her drink and swallowed it in one gulp. "Clark and Lana originally were trying to stop Lex, but that was years and years ago. I haven't heard from Lana in at least ten years. Clark…the last time I saw him was nine years, seven months, and two days ago. I wanted to believe he's alive somewhere, too, but I don't think I can anymore."

"How are you?" Kara said with worry.

Lois shrugged. That was something she didn't try and think about. "Alive. That's better than a lot of people."

Kara looked around while Lois paid for her drink. "I think we need to leave," Kara said. Lois followed her gaze outside the window, where a group of men was approaching the bar.

"Ohhhh, hell no! Enforcers!" Lois breathed. "Follow me, there's a back entrance."

Lois and Kara scrambled to the hallway that led to the restrooms and the storeroom. It didn't seem like many other people had noticed the Enforcers approaching, but Lois could only take time to save herself and the clueless Kara. At the end of the hallway was another door that led to the back alley. She jimmied the handle open and they burst into the outdoors.

She swore again when she noticed another pack of men entering the entrance to the alley. Kara still looked completely confused. "Follow me!" Lois barked and she ran to the fire escape on a nearby building.

They ran up the stairs, the noise of their climbing covered by the wail of sirens throughout the city and the announcements telling the civilians that curfew was in effect. The Enforcers were moving slowly and methodically, with small groups entering buildings while the rest fanned out across the alley. Lois prayed they hadn't discovered the location of the bunker. The Truth had already had to relocate five times in the past three months.

The two women had almost reached the top of the fire escape when a stream of people started coming out of the bar exit. The Enforcers moved in quickly. Most of the crowd laid down on the ground to submit to being arrested. Others tried to escape from the men. Gunshots and screams riddled the alley. Lois and Kara moved faster.

They reached the roof and Lois searched in vain for a way down again. "We need to get down now."

"Why? We just got up," Kara didn't seem winded at all.

"If the Enforcers have to shoot they always send a helicopter out. They'll find us."

Kara looked around, squinting, "There's no way down."

"There has to be! I will not get shot at again this week! And I will certainly not die on this stupid roof!" Lois yelled.

Kara looked uncertainly at her. She took a deep breath, "Ok, Lois, don't freak out. I know a way to get off the roof."

"What is it?" Lois was willing to try absolutely anything at this point. There was no cover on this flat roof.

"I can fly."

Lois blinked. "Don't be stupid, Kara. This really isn't the time for jokes. Not even slightly funny."

"I'm serious, Lois. This is the only chance we have. I can hear the helicopter approaching." Kara began to hover over the roof as she spoke. Lois' jaw dropped. It was true. No wonder Kara had always been weird.

Lois hesitated, but then she could hear it in the distance too. This was crazy. Unfortunately, she had gotten used to doing absolutely crazy things to stay alive over the years. How bad could flying be, anyways? At least she wouldn't have to go swimming in the sewers again. The sewers were full of bodies but at least the sky was just stars and Enforcer crafts.

"Fine! Let's go!" Lois said.

"I've never really done this with anyone before…" Kara said, coming back down to the roof.

Lois groaned, "I'm always open to trying new things if it will save my life."

"Grab my shoulders," Kara said as she turned her back to Lois. "We'll try it that way."

"Sure, a piggyback ride through the sky," Lois said as she held on tight. "Just beam me up, Scotty."

Kara grabbed one of Lois' wrists to keep her secure. Man, that girl had an iron grip, Lois thought. Kara thrust her other hand in a fist into the sky as they lifted off. They were soon streaking across the city and away from the rapidly approaching helicopter and alley.

It was amazing.

It was also an incredibly awkward way to travel.

"I should tell you how to get to my apartment!" Lois shouted over the wind.

"We're not going there!" Kara shouted back. "I have to take you to Jor-El!"

Lois hoped she wasn't being set-up. Sure, she trusted Kara for now, but she was beginning to have serious reservations about Clark's cousin. Could she really have no idea what Luthor was up to? Lois hoped Kara wasn't some new agent that had been sent to find her specifically for the bald mastermind. Kara had saved her from being killed, though, so Lois would have to take being alive right now. Even if it meant being dead later.

TBC…

*****

AN: I guess I'll see where this goes. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to happen. Feedback and comments are great! If you just want to complain about the most recent Smallville episodes or voice your hate for Lana, I'll enjoy reading that too!


	2. The Future Still

Disclaimer: None of this is mine, by the way. Duh.

AN: The story continues! Special thanks to Mysterious Prophetess' story "The Council of Fate vs. Lana Lang" for the inspiration of what to do with Lana eventually.

***********

**Chapter Two: The Future (Still)**

"_All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that."_ ~ Baltasar Gracian

"_Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. We lose as much to life as we do to death." _~Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

"_There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."_ ~Brian Tracy

******

They must have been flying for hours, Lois thought as they streaked over the white snow and ice landscape. The air had turned bitingly cold and Lois was getting pretty tired of the freezing wind whipping through her. Her purse kept on moving up and down her arm awkwardly. Her knuckles were stiff as she struggled to maintain her hold on Kara's shoulders. Kara's iron grip remained steady, but Lois could only hope that they would reach wherever they were going soon. Her teeth were beginning to chatter and her eyes had been tearing up for at least an hour. She had been able to sort of doze during the flight, but the cold wind had woken her up more than anything else.

They hadn't spoken for a while, since it was hard to actually hear Kara over the roar of the wind. Kara spoke up, "We're nearly there, Lois. The landing might be a little hard."

Lois wasn't really surprised at this. Things just could never be easy for her, it seemed. She really had no idea what to expect here in this northern wasteland. Kara had mentioned this Jor-El person, but Lois didn't recognize the name at all. After so many years without the weird radars of Clark and Chloe she wasn't as up-to-date with the supernatural as she had been in younger days. Maybe Jor-El was some sort of snow version of Obi-Wan Kenobi? A lone hermit living in the middle of nowhere?

"Here we go!" Kara shouted.

Lois willed her fingers to hold on as tightly as they could, although she wasn't exactly sure how much they could handle. Kara was slowing down and descending toward the ground. Lois didn't know anything about flying, but she could tell that the angle of the approaching ground was a little bit off as they got closer. They braced for impact. Kara hit the ground first, smashing a channel through the snow as she tried to bring Lois down safely. She eventually managed to control her speed enough so that Lois could push herself off Kara's shoulders into the snow and ice.

"Lois! Are you all right?" Kara called to her.

Lois pushed herself up shakily. She was covered in snow and absolutely freezing. "Yeah, I'm here, Kara." She was feeling irritated at this point. She needed some answers now. "Why on Earth does this Jor-El dude live all the way up here?"

Kara smiled grimly, "It's not really an Earth thing. The Fortress is out of the way up here, although it isn't quite exactly where I remember it being. C'mon."

Kara helped Lois up and they both started walking in the opposite direction from the snow channel Kara had created during landing. Lois tried to figure out how to describe the structure they were walking towards. Giant crystals rose from the surface to form what Lois could only call a 'fortress' as Kara had mentioned. It looked like some weird geode thing, but far more elaborate than most. It was absolutely beautiful.

It only took a few minutes before they were entering the massive crystal fortress. Lois gaped around her, completely in awe of her surroundings. Light reflected from every surface, making it seem as if the whole place was full of shimmering life. It was like a white palace of ice, but so much more at the same time. The inside of the fortress was warmer than the outside temperature, too. She had the vague feeling that she recognized the place though, from her old dreams of what heaven must look like, but to actually be in such a magnificent place was like nothing else.

"Ok, Kara, what comes next?" Lois said. This place was gorgeous, but she still wasn't sure how much she trusted Kara.

"Jor-El?" Kara said.

Lois looked around for either a hermit in robes or a squad of Enforcers. Neither one appeared. "Hello?" Lois said.

"_Lois Lane."_

Lois jumped and looked around wildly for the source of the bodiless voice. Kara actually smiled at her, so Lois knew how absurd she must look. She backed up against a crystal column and clutched her purse while she dug around in it feverishly. She had to have her gun in there somewhere.

"Relax, Lois, the voice is Jor-El," Kara said gently.

"Where?" Lois said. "That voice? Jor-El's just a voice?"

"_That is correct. Thank you for coming. Your presence is most important."_

Lois relaxed slightly at the calming voice, although she kept herself pressed against the column. She looked at Kara dubiously and then around the fortress again. She really wasn't looking forward to having a conversation with a disembodied voice and some crazy cousin of Clark Kent's who could fly. Maybe it was the fact that the fortress was so beautiful and inviting compared to her daily life in the shadows and dark Metropolis underground, but she found herself actually trusting her surroundings. For Lois, that could either be a great instinct or a sign that she was going to have to come up with a fabulous way to save her life again.

She opened her mouth once and then closed it, feeling stupid. She tried again, "Who are you?"

"_I am Jor-El, of the House of El."_

Lois didn't really find this very helpful, but she wasn't sure how to deal with this voice. "I'm Lois Lane, of the House of Lane?"

"_I am aware of your identity, Lois Lane. We haven't much time."_

"Much time for what?" Lois asked.

"_The timeline must be repaired. Kal-El must be restored to his proper place on Earth."_

Lois felt like she was missing a very important first half of a movie. "Whoa, back up a minute. What timeline? Who's Kal-El?"

"He never told her," Kara told Jor-El, somewhat sadly.

Jor-El responded before Lois could, _"Kal-El is my son. I believe you know him as Clark Kent."_

Why did that name keep coming up today after so many years without it? She thought she had buried those feelings for good years and years ago. Now, Lois had no idea how she was supposed to absorb this information that the disembodied voice was Clark's father. "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't know where Clark is."

"_Where he is now is not important. Where he should be is what matters. There are some important things you need to know about Kal-El…"_

Jor-El then proceeded to tell a long story that Lois struggled to keep up with. Apparently, if she got the gist of it right, Clark was really some alien from the planet Krypton. Jor-El got his son off of Krypton before the planet exploded. Clark had super-powers on Earth, including x-ray vision, super-strength, super-hearing, heat vision, super-speed, invulnerability, super-breath and he potentially could fly like Kara. Kara was also from Krypton. Kryptonians didn't react well to the meteor rocks and the green variety could kill him. The sun gave him power. Many years ago, Clark had been the red-and-blue blur of fame. Jor-El also kept saying that Clark was meant for great things.

Lois rubbed her temples as she tried to process all this information. Without Clark actually here it was a bit harder to believe all of this. It was strange, but this really didn't change her opinion of him at all. She just wished she had known this back when Clark had been around. "Ok, I've heard all about Clark now. What's the deal with the timeline? I don't understand where I fit in this."

"_This timeline is incorrect. It has been tampered with. Kal-El should not have disappeared nine years and eight months ago."_

It looked like Jor-El was counting the time without Clark, too. "Who messed with the timeline? Was it Lex Luthor?" Lois asked.

"_I do not have a definite answer to that. The last time he visited me, Kal-El moved the location of this structure to prevent Luthor from finding it. Kal-El talked about Luthor's plans. He said that Luthor was hunting Kal-El with the aid of Lana Lang. Kal-El was convinced that Lana Lang could be persuaded not to aid Luthor, but he had procured a weapon that would disable Lana Lang's nano-suit if necessary. He hid the weapon here."_

Lois had heard something about the nano-suit from Chloe at one point, but she had no idea that Lana had helped Luthor get into power all those years ago. When Lois had come back from Star City with Jimmy, Lana and Clark had gone off on some vague crime-fighting spree that Lois hadn't fully understood even then. Lana was actually working against Clark?

"Why am I the one that needs to go back and fix this? Why can't you?" Lois asked, feeling a bit frustrated.

"_Your life is also supposed to have a great purpose and destiny, Lois Lane. Only with your help can Kal-El become the hero he needs to be for this planet to survive. Kal-El needs you to save him. You are the only one left."_

Lois tried to remember her life when Clark had been part of it. It was so long ago. Now that she was trying to incorporate this new knowledge about Clark, Lana, and Luthor into her memories of them, she was getting more confused. What she had known then didn't seem right at all. Her life had seemed incomplete and goal-less for so long, could this be the reason? Was the absence of Clark in her life enough to make everything terrible? Maybe Jor-El was right and this whole timeline thing was completely wrong.

Lois took a deep breath. "What do you want me to do?"

"_You must go back and remove Lana Lang's influence on Kal-El's destiny. That is the only way to correct the current timeline."_

Lois looked at Kara, unsure of how to reply. The Kryptonian just shrugged. Lois stammered to respond, "Uh, how exactly? I don't see a DeLorean parked outside."

"_This fortress is quite powerful, Lois Lane. It can open a portal for your journey."_

Lois blinked at the easy answer. "Oh, ok. And how…what am I supposed to do with Lana?"

"_We must determine the best instance in time for you to go back and remove her from Kal-El's life."_

"Do you mean I'm supposed to kill her?" Lois asked in shock. Sure, she and Lana had never been close at all, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to just pop out of some portal and kill Lana in cold blood, even if that would save Clark and keep Lana from helping Luthor.

Jor-El was quiet for a long minute. Just as Lois was starting to get annoyed he spoke up, _"That might not be necessary. I will provide you with a way to send Lana Lang to the Phantom Zone."_

That particular incident with Clark definitely remained vivid in Lois' memory. "Oh yeah, I could do that."

"What point in time are we using?" Kara said.

"_The portal is an approximation at best, so the best we can do is send Lois Lane in at a general time. I suggest preventing Lana Lang's parents from meeting."_

Lois shook her head. "That's too close to killing in my mind. We're sending her to the Phantom Zone." It might be worse than death, but at least Lana would suffer.

"Before she and Clark meet?" Kara suggested.

Lois took a shaky breath. She couldn't believe she was actually going to voice the idea that she had come up with over the years. "No, I think Lana has to influence Clark in some way. So much of his capacity to love comes from his earlier times with her, even if they led to ruin. If you want Clark to have this great future as the hero to humankind, then he has to have had Lana in his life at some point." Lois tried to remember what she knew of Clark and Lana's relationship. She wanted Clark to stay as much like her memory of him as possible. "What about keeping Lana from coming back from Paris?"

"_That is before she receives the suit. I believe that will work for our purposes."_

Lois could swear she could hear Jor-El smiling. It was really just coincidence that the time she had picked also meant that Lois would never have to meet Lana when she came to Smallville.

"_Since the portal is an approximation, and that point in time is close to the time of the suit, I should give you the weapon Kal-El left here just in case. If you overshoot the target point you may need to remove the suit before sending Lana Lang to the Phantom Zone. Kara Zor-El, it is behind the console."_

Kara walked to the slab of ice with all the crystals sticking up out of it. She reached behind it and pulled out an object that looked like a small handgun. She handed it to Lois, who looked at it carefully. It didn't have any bullets but still looked in good working order, despite the years. She had no idea how to use it except just to pull the trigger.

"_We must hurry to set the portal. Lex Luthor is nearing this fortress."_

"What?!" Lois yelled, whirling on Kara. "You're working for him, aren't you?"

Kara looked just as confused and scared as Lois. "No! I swear I'm not, Lois! I've been looking for Kandor and other survivors from Krypton all these years! I didn't know anything about what was happening on Earth!"

"_Kara Zor-El is correct, Lois Lane. Luthor has been tracking Earth's atmosphere for any more survivors from Krypton. I believe he has been tracking her since she arrived without her knowledge."_

"What do we do? Do we need to move the fortress again?" Lois asked desperately.

"_That will be unnecessary once you go back and restore the proper timeline. None of this will matter if you succeed. I am activating the portal. You will need to wait for the correct point in time."_

A wall of flat crystal began to glow. In a matter of seconds, a series of images began to flash across the screen almost faster than Lois could recognize them. It took her a couple seconds to realize what was happening. She was watching the entire history of Earth flash before her eyes.

"This is amazing," she breathed.

Kara handed her a small clear crystal from the console. "Use this to send Lana to the Phantom Zone."

"_It has been programmed to activate once Lana Lang touches it."_

"Great," Lois said, putting the crystal and suit-removing-gun in her purse before zipping the purse securely closed. Dinosaurs were wandering around Earth on the portal. "Uh, how do I get back to now? How do I get back to the future?"

"_You will be sent forward in time after Lana Lang has been transported to the Phantom Zone. You just need to touch the crystal after Lana Lang is gone."_

"Lois Lane? I should have known you would find this place someday."

Lois and Kara both whirled around at the sound of a different voice in the fortress. Lois, too, should have known whom she would see. This day just couldn't get any worse.

Lex Luthor, flanked by a squad of Enforcers, was entering the fortress.

"And Kara Kent, or should I call you Kara Zor-El now? Lana told me all about you. It's nice to see you again, although unexpected." Lex was carrying a large weapon that glowed neon green.

Lois glanced at the portal, where it looked like the Romans were building something large. She took a couple steps backwards to block it from Luthor's view.

Kara looked uneasily at the weapon he was carrying. Her face broke into a sweat and she started gasping for air. "What're you doing here, Luthor?"

"I've got a few loose strings I need to tie up and your return to Earth gave me the perfect opportunity. Here I can destroy what remains of the House of El and this fortress that Clark tried to hide from me again. As an added bonus, Lois Lane the intrepid underground menace to my government will meet a tragic death."

"You won't get away with it, Luthor. There are thousands more like me," Lois said, trying to buy time for the portal. Columbus was crossing the Atlantic.

"No," Luthor said seriously. "I don't think there's anyone alive right now that will fight me as hard as you two. So let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Luthor leveled the glowing green gun and aimed at Kara. Her reactions were slightly faster, though. He fired the gun but it just ricocheted off one of the crystal columns. Kara was already fighting the squad of Enforcers, even though her face remained pale and her actions were slowing down. Marie Antoinette was being guillotined in the portal. Luthor continued firing rapid shots around the fortress, consistently missing Kara. Lois crouched low against the column nearest the portal to avoid the ricocheting blasts of green energy.

"Enough!" Luthor shouted. He aimed the gun at Lois. Trench warfare in WWI lit up the portal.

Kara stumbled forward, abandoning the Enforcer she was battling. "No!" She managed to position herself between Luthor and Lois, although she was bent double and wheezing.

Luthor smiled cruelly and fired the gun, hitting Kara squarely in the chest. She fell onto her back next to Lois, not moving. The space shuttle lifted off into the sky. He continued smiling as he tossed aside the large gun and grabbed an ordinary pistol from an Enforcer. "Kryptonite, Miss Lane, makes everything better."

Lois stood up and edged back a bit, trying to sneak a glance at the portal while making Luthor think she was just trying to escape. Luthor noticed the direction of her gaze as he aimed the pistol at her. He hesitated as he tried to understand the portal.

Then things started happening even faster.

Meteors and a spaceship crashed into a cornfield in Smallville. Luthor lowered the gun slightly and cocked his head. A younger Clark tested out his super-speed for the first time. Luthor raised the gun again, although he still looked like he didn't know what was really going on. A younger Luthor hit Clark with his car. Luthor took a step forward, distracting Lois from the portal.

"Look, I don't know what's going on—" he tried to say.

"_Lois Lane! The portal!"_ Jor-El shouted at her.

Lois jerked her attention to the portal again. She hesitated for a moment, slightly weirded out by seeing herself and a very naked Clark first meeting in the cornfield. Luthor fired a shot at her, grazing her shoulder. She didn't wait any longer.

Still clutching her purse to her side, Lois jumped into the portal. Gunshots from Luthor and the Enforcers echoed around her.

For a moment she was moving through an odd goo of some sort. She struggled through it, unable to breath. Before she could fully panic, she was released from the goo and fell into a pile of hay.

She looked up through the hay, wondering _when_ and where the portal had deposited her. She recognized the place at least, where else but the Kent barn would there be hay? It was bustling with strange people, though, which confused her. Then she saw someone that made her realize exactly where and when she was.

She saw herself.

This was the day of Chloe and Jimmy's wedding. This was the day where everything had started to go wrong.

She had missed the mark.

*********

AN: Loved it? Hated it? Confused? Just want to bash Lana some more and need any excuse? I would love to know whether this should be a long or shorter story! Comment!


	3. The Past

AN: Thank you thank you thank you all so much for the fantastic reviews! They are so motivational! I'm just glad that other people can find comfort in hating Lana and CLana with me! Long live Lois! Long live CLois!

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**Chapter Three: The Past**

_"Nothing lasts forever - not even your troubles."  ~_Arnold H Glasgow

_"Time is the reef upon which all our frail mystic ships are wrecked."_  ~Sir Noel Coward Blithe Spirit

"_They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." _~Andy Warhol

*********

Lois lay in the hay for a minute or two, watching her younger self bark out orders left and right. If only this hadn't been so many years ago, she would have an easier time of remembering the exact sequence of events on that terrible day. She would just have to make the best guesses she could. At least she didn't have to worry about when to find Lana. That particular memory still shone bright with bitterness.

This crazy plan to get Lana out of Clark's life could still be pulled off, Lois realized, even if she had missed the original mark that they had planned on back in the fortress. Lana came and went out of Clark's life enough; it was just luck that Lois had still managed to hit a time when Lana was about to come back. She just needed to get out of the barn and find somewhere safe to wait for Lana to crash the wedding.

She stifled a yawn and realized that she was still carrying the grime and exhaustion from eleven years in the future. She'd escaped Luthor and his minions twice in the past day, or at least what her brain was telling her was the proper amount of time for a day. Lois felt her left hand flare up in pain again. She needed sleep.

Jimmy passed her unknowingly with a pair of tuxes and headed for her younger self. Lois tried to hear what they were talking about across the barn, something about tadpoles and prince charming. It took her a moment to remember that they were talking about Clark. She rolled her eyes, thinking that Jimmy's advice to 'hop his lily pad and plant one on him' really hadn't turned out that well.

But maybe, just maybe, Lois would be able to fix that for her younger self. Getting rid of Lana would certainly get rid of a very large distraction for Clark. Lois couldn't help but wonder how much of her life would be affected if she succeeded. How much could she dare wish for?

No, the most important thing was to follow Jor-El's plan to enable Clark to achieve his great destiny, whatever that meant. This little jaunt into the past wasn't to make sure that Lois didn't end up an old spinster. This was business. Plus, she realized, she now knew so much more about Clark than she had in the past. She wasn't so sure that if she were face to face with him she wouldn't start yelling at him for not trusting him with his 'I'm an alien' secret.

On the other side of the barn, young Lois was admiring Clark's tux and then yelling at the cameraman for being in her face. Lois took advantage of the distraction to climb out of the hay and head for the farmhouse. She vaguely remembered that she had taken over Clark's bedroom for her own wedding preparations. Her younger self would be occupied for the next few hours, so she could get in a good nap to be fully prepared for the Lana takedown later.

She prayed that she wouldn't run into Clark on the way to the house. She moved quickly, dusting the hay off of herself before she went in the back door. She glanced nervously around as she made her way to the stairs, certain that the next person she saw would be him and that there would be no way to escape him seeing her. What was she supposed to say if that happened anyway? 'Hi, I'm here to send your ex-girlfriend to the Phantom Zone when she comes back tonight, don't mind me?' That didn't sound like a very good plan.

Luckily, there was no sign of him on the first floor. She ran up the stairs and didn't slow down until she had closed the door of the bedroom firmly behind her. She was safe for now. She stumbled over her clothes for the wedding to get to the bed. She needed this nap. As soon as her head hit the pillow she decided it was a truly great plan.

Lois had a very strange dream. She was back in the fortress talking with Jor-El. He kept on talking about some red crystal she needed to get from Clark's trunk in the loft. She was just coming up to consciousness, wondering if the dream was real or not, when someone poked her hard in the face. She opened her eyes slowly and saw…herself, looking utterly petrified.

The younger Lois yelled and then aimed a kick at Lois' head.

Too many years of fighting against all sorts of attackers had honed Lois' reaction time well, even if she was barely awake. She had survived three midnight home invasions, after all. She grabbed the foot inches from her face and twisted so that her younger self hit the ground, although not very hard. Lois scrambled up from the bed and grabbed her younger self in a headlock while covering her mouth. Young Lois struggled but Lois kept her grip firm.

"Shut up! It's ok, calm down, I can explain everything," Lois whispered to her younger self.

"Lois?"

Lois froze, instantly recognizing Clark's voice from the other side of the door. Young Lois struggled a bit more, but Lois just pulled her over to the door. "Lois, is everything all right?" Clark called again.

Not willing to take the chance that her voice had changed at all, Lois decided her younger self should answer him. "Tell him everything is fine," Lois whispered again before removing her hand.

"Yeah, Smallville, everything's fine," young Lois said easily. "Just having some Bluetooth kickback."

"All right, Lois, just don't hurt yourself in there," Clark said, his voice fading as he walked down the hall.

Lois waited a second before she slowly released the younger version of herself. It might have been easier if she hadn't run into herself, but at least she knew that out of anyone, she could make young Lois believe her and trust her. "Now, I'm going to let you go, but don't freak out. We need to talk."

Young Lois turned around and they stared at each other. Lois had a bit more preparation for actually seeing another living and breathing Lois Lane. Young Lois didn't look convinced of the reality of the situation. Lois still felt tired and was amazed at how much visible energy she used to have. She had also forgotten that her hair had once looked that good. She thought of her own disheveled appearance and was sure that she was disappointing some dreams of the younger Lois. Oh well, that would hopefully change after all this.

"You're…me?" young Lois was obviously having trouble with this idea.

Lois nodded, "About eleven years down the line, yeah."

Young Lois shook her head, "I don't believe it. This is too weird. Why should I believe this? What if you're just some badly cloned version of me?"

"No, I really am from the future," Lois knew she couldn't give too much information away, since she intended to be gone later tonight, but she could at least convince the other Lois. "You want me to prove it to you? I know everything that you know. I know that you're seriously considering Jimmy's advice. I know that about five minutes ago Clark gave Chloe the flower she gave him for their freshman homecoming. I know that I…we…you slipped and fell in the shower last week and that bruise on your elbow is still hurting today. I know that the safest and scariest feeling you've ever had is when you're looking deep into Clark's eyes—"

"Ok, ok, ok! I get it! You're me and I'm you!" young Lois said, throwing up her hands and walking around a few steps. There was a long moment when neither one knew what to say. "So, uh, what're you doing here exactly? I mean, if you're from the future and all."

Lois thought for a moment before choosing her words carefully. She didn't want her younger self to be completely overwhelmed. "I've come back because I need to fix something."

"Fix something? Something goes wrong today? This is Chloe's wedding day, everything has to go perfectly!"

Something going wrong was a horrible understatement. After all, this was the day that Chloe was abducted by that monster thing. Lois wished she could do something to prevent that, but she had heard all about that Brainiac thing taking over Chloe. On a particularly bad night during her divorce from Jimmy, a very drunk Chloe had told the whole story to Lois, wondering if being taken over by a machine meant that she could get an annulment. Apparently, if she hadn't been abducted then Clark never would have found the special way to free her. Lois had never understood the whole story, it was just another weird supernatural thing that Clark and Chloe did together. She supposed now that Clark's superpowers had helped him save her cousin.

"Look, you don't need to worry about anything. If everything goes well tonight, I'll be in and out in no time. I can't tell you very much more than that. We've seen Star Trek, we know how the space-time continuum gets messed up."

Young Lois quirked an eyebrow at the mention of 'we.' "You look like hell. What happened to the future?"

"Bad stuff," Lois said, trying to flatten her hair out.

Young Lois gasped when she saw Lois' left hand. She grabbed it and stared at the missing pinky. "Please tell me you've come to get a finger back!"

Lois laughed, completely understanding how shocking the missing pinky could be. "Hopefully."

The younger Lois released her hand. "You can't go save the future looking like that. Go ahead and take a shower. I've got to change for the wedding. You can just wear these clothes that I'm wearing, I guess, since you're me and all. Have you changed size?"

Lois shook her head, "Some things don't change."

The two Lois Lanes paused and looked at each other. Lois knew her younger version had plenty of questions, but she also knew that young Lois wouldn't press her for information.

"Like I said, hopefully you won't have to worry about seeing me again after the wedding," Lois said as she headed to take the shower.

"If you do need help, just let me know," young Lois said, glancing again with a frown at Lois' missing pinky. "Just go do your thing."

"Ok," Lois said. Before she closed the door behind her, she decided one small piece of advice couldn't hurt. "Oh, and Lois? About what Jimmy said…trust your gut."

A couple of hours later, Lois was hiding in the shadows of the Kent barn. She was wearing the clothes her younger self had left her and was definitely enjoying feeling clean again. She had listened to the wedding inside and kept track of what was happening. The waiting was getting increasingly annoying, though, now that the reception was in full swing. Her stomach growled, but she couldn't sneak anything from the caterers without being recognized as out of place. Her purse was slung over her shoulder, unzipped to provide easy access to the Phantom Zone crystal.

She continued scratching the divot in the ground. As much as she wanted this over and done with, she had been thinking more about the strange dream she had earlier. What if Jor-El was somehow actually communicating with her through time? She had no idea if that was actually possible, but she decided that after she sent Lana to the Phantom Zone she would at least take a peek in Clark's trunk to see if the red crystal was there.

The sugary sounds of a solo saxophone broke her out of her focus on the dirt. Lois couldn't help shifting out of the shadows and sneaking a look in the barn. Sure enough, Clark was pulling young Lois to the dance floor and they were slowly revolving. Her breath actually caught in her throat. She was actually watching _herself_ dance. She decided that this was the single weirdest moment of her life.

To add even more to the mental complexity, this was the first time she had seen Clark since coming back in time. It had been too long since she had seen him. He didn't look as good as she remembered, no, he looked about fifty times better. That boy certainly was a sight for sore eyes. No one could wear a suit like he could. All the feelings she thought she had been repressing since this very night somehow found a way to rise back up again. She rubbed her temples, trying to tell herself that she could not possibly be jealous of the position her younger self was in right now. It was _her_ after all.

Lois completely blamed Clark for being able to distract her this much. She was losing track of the exact timing of the night. She turned around, tearing her eyes from the couple on the floor and searching for Lana, knowing that she should be right there.

Lana was right there, just to her right. But Oliver Queen was right in front of her.

"Lois?" he said.

Lois reached into her bag for the crystal and attempted to block Lana, but Oliver pulled her into a giant bear hug. Lana walked right past her, completely ignoring her. Lois would have liked to shrug off Oliver and tackle Lana before she could disrupt young Lois and Clark's almost kiss, but it had been eight years since she had seen Ollie alive and well. She hated herself, but couldn't help hugging him back.

She heard the shouts of surprise from inside the wedding and knew she had missed again.

Oliver let her go, but then really looked at her. "You look different. Why are you wearing that?"

Lois sighed. She wracked her brain trying to figure out what she was supposed to do now. Lana was back and Clark had seen her. She couldn't get to Lana now without Clark knowing and probably protecting Lana from a weird-looking Lois. This was not good. Plus, Oliver was giving her a very strange look. She had no idea how she was supposed to explain this to him. How many people were going to find out about her?

She needed the other Lois and she knew the other Lois needed to talk to Oliver, too. "Let's go to the house and talk, Ollie."

She set off at a brisk pace for the house and Ollie matched her pace easily. "Where's your maid of honor dress?" he asked after a moment.

"Back at the house," Lois said shortly. She zipped up her purse, not taking the chance of losing the crystal.

"Did you spill champagne on it already?" he joked.

They trotted up the porch steps and sure enough, young Lois rounded the corner with a bottle of champagne. She looked startled but didn't jump nearly as much as Oliver did.

"Whoa! What's going on here?" he looked desperately between the two Loises.

Lois figured the truth would be a lot shorter and it never hurt having the Green Arrow on your side. "Here's the summary: I'm actually from the future, Oliver. This here is Lois Lane from your time. Don't freak out or anything, I'm just here to fix something bad that happened. The future isn't so great."

He blinked at her, looking like he hardly understood a word she had said, and then looked back at young Lois. "You know this? You believe this?"

Young Lois nodded and took a swig of champagne. "Unfortunately, yes. Welcome to the Twilight Zone, Ollie. But watch out, the advice from the future sucks."

Lois glared at her younger self. "I'm sure there's something you need to talk to Oliver about. I'm just going to go over there," she pointed to the other side of the porch, "and figure out what I'm going to do." She walked around the corner and leaned against the porch railing,

"Lois, what's going on? That's you from the future?" Oliver said just loud enough that Lois could hear.

"Yeah, I don't really want to talk about her," young Lois said.

"Oook, so you want to tell me what started this lost weekend?" Oliver said.

Even though she had no idea what to do about Lana, Lois couldn't help but smile as her younger self and Oliver still managed to have roughly the same version of the conversation about Lois' feelings for Clark that Lois herself remembered.

She moved down the porch, trying to put together some sort of timeline for the rest of the night. It was more difficult because she could only remember what she herself had done, and she hadn't interacted with Lana at all. She headed back for the barn, deciding that she needed to keep an eye on Lana and wait for a moment when Clark wasn't paying attention to his ex.

Lois actually went in the barn this time, although she still kept to the shadows around the perimeter. This would be so much easier if people at this wedding didn't know what she looked like. She searched the crowd of people, but couldn't see Lana or Clark anywhere. She had no idea where they could be. She cursed her limited knowledge of all that had happened between Lana and Clark when Lana came back. If only she knew exactly when she would have another opportunity to take down Lana.

She didn't find them until Chloe and Jimmy were about to cut the cake. They came down from the loft, both looking serious but not overly happy or sad. That was a good thing, right? Since she couldn't stop Lana from making contact with Clark again, the best she could hope for was lots of closure for Clark. Lots and lots of closure. Closure was good. Hopefully it could save the future.

A tremor shook the barn. Lois snapped out of worrying about how to fix the Lana problem. She recognized the noise, although she had heard it from the farmhouse the last time it had happened. A thud on the roof caught everyone's attention. The lights started to flicker and people were looking around, scared and apprehensive.

Lois glanced at Lana, wondering if she could touch the crystal to her in the chaos that was about to tear apart the barn, but then she noticed someone behind Lana. Jimmy was standing next to Chloe, trying to figure out what the noise was like everyone else. Jimmy was about to have his stomach ripped open by that monster thing.

Lois decided in a split second that she definitely could fix at least one thing tonight.

The monster tore a hole in the roof. The lights went out. People started screaming and trying to escape the barn as the monster tore it apart. Lois headed straight for Jimmy.

He was trying to protect Chloe, taking a protective stance towards the monster across the barn. Lois noticed Clark trying to punch the monster, but he was blocked and thrown through the air. She was running across the barn and didn't have time to wonder why his superpowers weren't helping him defeat this thing. Jimmy took a step away from Chloe, looking on the ground for something to hit the creature with.

Lois tackled Jimmy out of the way of the monster. They slid across the floor away from Chloe. He fought to get off the floor and back to his bride, but Lois pulled him down again and pinned him to the floor. He yelled Chloe's name over and over again as the monster picked Chloe up and carried her out of the barn. Lois felt a tear slide down her cheek as she watched her cousin be taken, but she knew she could do nothing to stop it. The best she could do was keep Jimmy from doing something stupid and getting hurt. Chloe was gone.

"Chloe!" Jimmy yelled a final time before he broke into sobs.

Lois relaxed her hold on him and rolled off his back. She took a deep breath, reeling from what had just happened and how much she had just changed the timeline without meaning to. She saw a hand lower in front of her face and she took it to be helped up.

She looked up at who had assisted her and her mouth went dry.

"Lois?" Clark said, looking concerned and completely confused.

******

AN: Due to popular demand this story will now be LONG! Or at least as long as I can stretch it out, lol. Since this chapter was basically a rewrite of the 'Bride' episode, I'm probably aiming for substantial rewrites of the episodes that followed. I just didn't like how Jimmy and Lois were shipped off-screen for so long and figured that Lois could fix that by saving Jimmy. I know Lois spent a lot of time fighting people who weren't Lana, but I promise that Lana bashing is on its way! Keep the reviews coming and I'll keep the chapters coming!


	4. Too Many Folks from the Future

AN: I didn't find 'Requiem' as offensive as 'Power,' but I'm still not completely satisfied with the manner in which Lana left. I would have liked more closure for Clark rather than just, "oh, you can't be with her," but at least Lana's gone, right? Thoughts and comments are definitely welcome. This chapter continues on with my own personal rewrite of the Lana episodes with the time travel twist of Lois. Enjoy and review!

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**Chapter Four: Too Many Folks from the Future**

"_I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person."_ ~Og Mandino

"_Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit."_ ~Napoleon Hill

"_Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer." _~Denis Waitley

*******

Lois stared up at Clark.

She was powerless to do anything else. She had seen him in the barn before, of course, dancing with the younger version of herself, but that had been some sort of strange dream. It had been a moment from her memory and his presence in it seemed like just another part of the memory. But this moment, holding his hand and gazing up at him, this had never happened before. This was the first time she had seen him, talked to him, or touched him in nine years, seven months, and three days. Her hand involuntarily went to his cheek, where she ever so lightly brushed her thumb along his jaw line. She could hardly believe he was real. His eyes were mesmerizing and it had been far too long since she had felt their warmth directed towards her. That familiar feeling of being safe and on the tip of scared washed over her. She didn't think that would still be possible. She whispered his name, almost too quiet to be heard, but finally allowing herself to accept that he was alive and standing close enough for comfort.

Her hand still rested in his, but neither one drew away. He didn't quite seem to know what to do, either. She knew that her face reflected how dumbstruck she was at actually interacting with him again. Her lips curved into a goofy grin that he returned. She knew she looked older, she could tell that he knew something was different, but she wanted to believe that Clark could still connect with her as Lois Lane. She was still Lois and he was still Clark, after all. How much did time really matter? How much could she convince herself that it didn't matter?

"Lois? Are you all right?" Clark said, looking intently at her.

"Yes, Clark, I'm fine," Lois said. She wanted to curse herself for sounding so breathless.

He continued looking at her carefully. She could only imagine how he was trying to ask her about her different clothing and visible age. She didn't know how to help him out, either. She was still trying to deal with his presence, after all. Plus, she was waiting for some sign of his superpowers to leak out. Remembering that fact certainly made her reluctantly bring her hand down from his cheek.

Oliver came running up to them through the crowd of people that was fleeing outside. He saw their hands together and gave Lois a quick glance before addressing Clark. "Chloe's gone. Lois called the police and they're sending ambulances--"

He was cut off by a strangled cry from Jimmy. "Chloe!" Jimmy yelled before pushing himself off the floor and running out of the barn at a faster speed than Lois thought he was capable of.

Lois and Clark reacted at the same time. They dropped each other's hand and went racing after Jimmy. He was headed for the fields that the monster had disappeared into. Clark must have been controlling his speed because he and Lois reached Jimmy at the same time. Although he flailed his arms and struggled against Clark, they pulled him to the ground and managed to subdue his escape with the help of someone else in the dark.

When he had finally calmed down and was simply breathing heavily on the ground, Lois and Clark stood up. Lois was a little surprised to see that young Lois had been the one to help them in the dark, but she shouldn't have been. Even back then, Lois had started to regard Jimmy as a brother if Chloe was like a sister. Lois smiled at her younger self, who shrugged and joined Clark in watching Jimmy with worry.

"He should be ok," Clark said. He looked at Lois and then young Lois, doing a series of double takes between them. "What? Lois? What's going on?"

Young Lois looked at Lois and Clark followed her gaze. Lois smiled a bit sheepishly. "Uh, I'm not really sure there's an easy way to tell you this, Smallville, but I'm actually from the future."

"The future?" Clark looked at young Lois again, who nodded slowly. "I'm not sure I follow."

"Join the club," Oliver spoke up, joining them again. "Why don't I take Jimmy to the hospital to get him checked out? You've got enough to handle here with two Lois Lanes, plus Chloe and all." He gave each Lois his signature grin. "I'll take care of him until…until you bring Chloe back."

"Thanks, Oliver," Clark said. The two men lifted Jimmy up and Oliver led him away. "Jimmy will be ok," Clark said to the two women.

"And Chloe?" young Lois asked slowly. "What happened to her? Where is she? Why do all these terrible things keep happening?"

Clark pulled her into a tight hug. Lois remembered a similar conversation in a very different setting, but was determined not to ruin the moment by drawing attention to herself. It still felt disconcerting to be back with her friends at the Kent farm. She was much older than them and had gone through so many different things, but she still felt connected to them. In the future, she was the only one left. Here and now, everyone at least was alive.

Clark and young Lois eventually pulled apart. Clark gave her a reassuring smile, which she tried to return but only half-succeeded.

"Jimmy will be ok," Lois said, thankful that she had the opportunity to help Jimmy out. "Chloe will be, too."

"Is that an official prediction from the future?" young Lois asked her hopefully.

Lois sighed. "I really don't know. I've already changed some things by being here. I don't know how much of an impact I've had. But I believe Chloe will be all right." Young Lois seemed to accept this statement.

"Now, why are you here from the future?" Clark said, taking a half step closer to young Lois as if to protect if necessary.

"I'm here to fix something that went wrong. The future's terrible, somehow the timeline got messed up or something, and I'm the only one that could fix it by going back. You've got to believe me, Clark."

To her surprise, Clark turned to young Lois. "Have you talked to her?" Young Lois nodded. "Do you believe her? Is she you?"

"I believe her. She knows things that only I would know. I know it's weird, but believe me, it feels weirder to be me right now. I mean, somewhere down the line I could lose a finger," young Lois said.

Lois held up her left hand before Clark could question her about said digit. "You can ask me anything you think I should know, if you'd like, but I'm not giving away much about the future. All you need to know about my time is that it's wrong and shouldn't be that way."

Clark looked at her thoughtfully. "This feels strange to ask with two of you here, but I do have a question for you. There's something that I'm not allowed to ever tell anyone about, what is it?"

Young Lois blushed and became very interested in the ground. Lois could understand her feelings since this event was a little more recent for her younger self. Lois simply smiled. "You mean the lap dance? I hope you've still got the Elmer Fudd nightlight for collateral."

Clark smiled at her in return, shaking his head slightly. "Some things never change, I guess." He and young Lois shared a glance, too, before he looked at Lois again. "Are you here to help with finding Chloe?"

Lois remembered the dream with Jor-El and decided it couldn't hurt to look for the crystal in the trunk. "I might have an idea about that. Follow me."

She led them back to the barn. When she saw Lana waiting in the doorway, she felt her good spirits that came with seeing Clark deflate. That silly farm boy had once again managed to distract her from her mission. Maybe she didn't have to complete it so quickly, though. Maybe she could help Clark find Chloe and then take care of sending that fake-smiling Lana to the Phantom Zone. Lois didn't want to make herself look bad in front of her younger self and Clark, after all. She needed to make sure she didn't drastically reduce anyone's perceptions of Lois Lane.

"Clark?" Lana said anxiously, her eyes widening as she saw the two Loises walking with him. "Lois? Lois?"

Lois couldn't help smirking at Lana's reaction.

"It's ok," Clark said calmly. "This is present Lois and that's future Lois."

Lana looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Future? Present? That's impossible."

"It's really not that difficult of a concept," Lois said wryly. She kind of wanted to kick Lana in the face.

"Time travel and all," young Lois added, a hint of edge in her own voice. Lois was glad to see that no love remained between her younger self and Lana. But then again, she remembered, Lana had interrupted a very intimate moment between young Lois and Clark earlier that night. Yet another reason to send her to the creepy land of howling wind and washed-out colors.

Clark noticed Lana's injured leg, "Lana, you're hurt. You should get to the hospital." The ambulances were starting to pull up in front of the farmhouse.

"It's not too bad," Lana said. "I'll just go in one of the ambulances. You should start looking for Chloe." She looked at Clark pointedly, probably trying to get him to get rid of the Loises and get to work.

"I think I'll go to the hospital, too," young Lois said abruptly. "I want to make sure Jimmy's taken care of while…while Chloe's gone. You probably can get more help from future me, anyways."

Lois silently thanked her younger self for this idea. It would be a lot easier to talk to Clark about his powers if she didn't have to worry about telling her younger self about them at the same time.

"I'll let you know as soon as I find Chloe," Clark said as Lana and young Lois turned to go. "Just be careful."

"Don't worry," Lana said at the same time that young Lois said, "I can take care of myself, Smallville." They looked at each other, both frowning, and then continued to go.

Lana and young Lois were the last of the crowd to leave, leaving Clark and Lois alone in the wreckage of the wedding. Clark looked around the barn, kicked a plank of wood, and sighed heavily. Lois knew he didn't have a good idea where to start the search.

"Let's see if I can help," Lois suggested. She led the way up the stairs to the loft.

"No offense, um, Lois, but I still don't really understand how you being here is possible," Clark said.

"It was kind of a crazy situation," Lois said, finding his trunk and pulling it out from under a pile of rubble. "I don't fully understand, either. Jor-El opened this portal--"

"Wait, Jor-El? You know about Jor-El?"

"Yeah, Smallville, I do." She started sifting through his stuff and looking for the crystal.

"How much do you know?" Clark said seriously, kneeling next to her on the floor.

Lois stopped her search to look at him. She couldn't tell what he was feeling when he had that anxious expression. Was he relieved or just astounded that she had found out eventually? "I know your secret. I know that you're Kal-El. I know about Krypton. I know about your powers."

Clark took a deep breath. "So that means I told you."

Lois snorted and threw aside his letterman jacket. "Hardly. I wish you had told me. I only found out yesterday from Jor-El before he opened the portal and sent me back in time to fix stuff."

"I didn't tell you?" Clark said, looking shocked. "I…I guess I thought that I was going to tell you eventually. So that means that we're…we're not…" He trailed off, looking away from her deep in thought.

She looked carefully at him. Was he really suggesting what she thought he was? Did he really think they would be more in the future? She smiled gently at him and touched his arm so he would look at her. "Clark, you can do whatever you want. You can tell present me whenever you're ready. My time is already going to be different just because I've changed things. Don't worry about what will happen. You still make decisions about your life."

Clark nodded weakly, still looking distracted. "Downstairs, when I helped you up, you looked so surprised to see me. Why?"

Lois knew she had to be very careful about what she said. She didn't want Clark to know that she had no idea where he was or even if he was alive in the future. She didn't want him going into every situation wondering if it would be the one that he didn't return from. "In the future, I hadn't seen you for a while. It was just a shock to see you again."

Clark seemed to accept this. He loosened his tie and finally seemed to notice what she was doing. "What are you looking for?"

She went back to rifling through his things. "I had a dream where Jor-El told me to find some red crystal shield. I don't know why, but I just need to see if it's here."

Clark reached in, moved aside a yearbook, and pulled out the crystal shield. "Do you mean this?"

Lois scowled, "No fair using x-ray vision."

Clark laughed, definitely looking relieved that he didn't have to pretend he didn't have powers around her. "Maybe this will help with Chloe."

"I think you need to find her first," Lois said.

"Any idea how that happens?" Clark asked hopefully.

Lois shook her head, "I didn't know your secret at this point in the past, remember? I don't know what you did."

"Right," Clark said and sighed. He pulled his suit jacket off and threw it on the couch. "I'll just run around and see if I can find where she went, then."

"Great," Lois said. She stood up and brushed the dust off her knees. "I'll stay here."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Clark said.

Lois waved a hand at him, "Don't worry about me. I'm going to pick through the remains of the buffet and get some dinner. I haven't eaten in negative eleven years."

Clark laughed. "The chicken was good if you can find some."

"Run along, Smallville," Lois said.

Clark nodded and was gone in a blur. Lois gasped. Knowing about his powers and seeing him in action were two very different things. She couldn't believe she had missed this for all those years. Now, to find that chicken.

She was napping when a gust of wind and papers flying woke her up. She had been dreaming about the Fortress, probably influenced by the half carton of ice cream she had dug up from somewhere in the barn. She had no idea where that had come from. The empty plate with remnants of her dinner was resting on her stomach. When she saw Clark standing over her looking worried she set the plate down on the couch and stood up.

"Any luck?" Lois asked.

"None," Clark said, turning the crystal over in his hand. "I checked three time zones with no sign of Chloe or that creature."

"Do you know what you're looking for?" Lois said.

Clark shook his head, "Not really. I'm only guessing that whatever took Chloe is the ultimate destroyer from Krypton that Jor-El told me about once." He looked at her as if he expected her to chime in with an answer.

Lois shrugged, "That's a better guess than what I know."

She chewed on her lip thoughtfully and was about to mention Brainiac when a bright purple light filled the loft. A man dressed in heavy leather materialized in the loft with a huge axe. He swung the axe into Clark's trunk, which shattered easily. He looked around, swinging the axe slightly.

Clark moved faster than Lois could think. He grabbed her and carried her down the stairs, leaving her in the doorway of the barn before he ran back up to face the axe-wielding man.

"Who are you? What're you doing here?" Lois heard him shout at the axe-man.

The axe-man didn't respond. Instead, he swung the axe and sliced at Clark's side. Lois couldn't see much from her distance, but she saw Clark get kicked in the chest and fall over the side of the loft. She yelled his name and he tried to stand, holding his side in pain. The axe-man was approaching him when a strange light filled the barn again.

Three people materialized this time, all wearing weird outfits. One of them did something to make the axe fly across the room and into his hand. The girl was holding her hand to her head but Lois couldn't tell if she just had a headache or had some other power. A redheaded guy stepped forward and sent a bolt of energy at the axe-less man, sending him flying across the barn unconscious. The first one pulled a ring off the axe-less man's finger and a flash of purple light took him away.

Lois ran to Clark and helped him up, surprised to actually see his bloody shirt where the guy had hit him. Clark didn't seem to be permanently injured. "I'm ok," he told her. He turned to the other three people. "Who are you and what's going on?"

Although the redhead was bobbing up and down with excitement, the first one, obviously their leader, spoke up. "Kal-El, it is an honor to meet you."

"How do you know that name?" Clark said angrily. Lois guessed that he wasn't so pleased with so many people suddenly throwing his secret around.

"We are the Legion," the girl said.

"We come from the thirty-first century," their leader said.

Clark and Lois looked at each other. "You're from the future, too?" Lois said. There was way too much time traveling going on in this barn.

The Legion looked at each other, also looking puzzled. "Who are you?" their leader said.

"I'm Lois Lane," Lois said. If the redhead had looked excited before, now he was positively glowing. She ignored him.

"Lois Lane," the girl repeated, looking significantly at her companions. "It is an honor to meet you as well."

"Why should we believe that you're from the future?" Clark said, still holding his side.

"Because we know everything about you," the redhead said. "You may be known as Clark Kent now, but one day you'll be known as Su--"

"Garth!" their leader said sharply. "We need to go. We shouldn't waste time here."

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm from the future, too," Lois said, cutting right to the chase.

Their leader stopped moving the other two away. "What do you mean?"

"I'm from the future, maybe not as far as the thirty-first century, but I'm from eleven years from now."

"Rokk, how is that possible?" the girl asked the leader.

"I'm not sure, Imra," Rokk said. "We know who you are, Lois, but we had no idea that you could travel through time. We didn't expect to see anyone else time-traveling like us."

"I can't, well, not without help from Jor-El," Lois said.

"You can compare time travel later!" Clark said. "I just want to know why you're here and who that axe-wielding psycho was."

Rokk sighed. "We came to save you, Kal-El. Apparently, you've got all sorts of people from the future coming to help you out. The guy with the axe calls himself the Persuader. He's part of a human supremacist movement that doesn't like dealing with aliens like us."

"None of us are from Earth, either," Garth said.

"None of that matters right now, though," Rokk said. "Today's an important day for you, Kal. Shouldn't you be going after Brainiac?"

"Brainiac? I've already destroyed him," Clark said.

Imra shook her head. "No, Kal, today's date is well-known as the day you defeat Brainiac once and for all. You use the crystal in your hand."

Clark looked at Lois, eyes wide. "Lois, do you think? Chloe was taken over once, who's to say it couldn't happen again?"

"Maybe Jor-El was helping you by having me dream about the crystal so the Persuader psycho wouldn't smash it in the trunk," Lois said excitedly.

"Where's Chloe then?" Clark said.

"Where would Brainiac want her to go?" Lois said after a moment.

Clark rubbed his forehead. "How could I have been so stupid? If anyone would be in contact with an ultimate destroyer from Krypton, it would be Brainiac. He would head straight for the Fortress. I'll bet that's where that thing took Chloe, if she's been taken over again."

Lois was impressed with this line of thinking. "Really? Wow, that actually makes sense, Clark."

"What are you doing here, Lois?" Rokk said suddenly. They had been quiet throughout Lois and Clark's exchange of ideas.

Lois looked at Clark. "You should probably get out of that bloody shirt before you head up to the Fortress."

"Yeah, I'll be right back," Clark said, understanding she needed to talk to the Legion alone. "I won't listen in."

"What timeline are you from?" Lois said as soon as he was gone, hoping he kept his word. "Because in my time, Clark isn't known at all. He isn't saving the world. The world is terrible and I don't even know if he's alive eleven years from now."

"Kal-El is known as a great hero in our time," Imra said. "We must come from different timelines, then. What were you sent here to do?"

Lois hesitated. "I'm here to remove someone's influence. I'm guessing that your timeline is the correct one, if Clark's a hero. Jor-El kept talking about Clark's great destiny, which he definitely doesn't achieve in my time. Maybe after I fix this then my timeline won't exist anymore and it'll be on track to lead to your time."

"How much do you know about time travel?" Rokk said.

"Absolutely nothing, but I'm up a science fiction buff," Lois said with a smile.

"You need to be careful about what you do here," Rokk said sternly. "Your actions could drastically change things."

"I've already changed my past just by being here," Lois said. She didn't like being lectured by these future punks. "And you don't understand. I came back for the express purpose of changing the past. I may not know exactly what I'm doing, but I know the most important thing I need to do. I'm going to change things as much as I can."

Clark came back a moment later when Lois and the Legion were staring each other down stubbornly. He had changed into his normal outfit of blue shirt and red jacket. He looked between the two sides, reluctant to get in between the two versions of the future.

"Is everything all right?" he said slowly.

"Everything's fine," Lois said. "You should head up to the Fortress and save Chloe."

"We're going with you," Garth said.

"Garth!" Rokk said angrily.

"No, it's a good idea," Imra said, looking at Lois although addressing Rokk. "Kal's influence goes beyond Earth, remember? Without him, humans won't embrace aliens. We should make sure Brainiac is defeated. Things are different."

"If we don't make sure Brainiac is removed from the human host, we won't have a future," Garth added.

"You guys should get going," Lois said. "It's getting late. I'll go to the hospital and wait for you there."

"Catch ya in the air, Kal," Garth said.

Clark looked sheepish, "I can't fly."

"What?" Garth said.

"He hasn't learned yet, obviously," Rokk said dismissively.

"I'll be back, with Chloe," Clark said to Lois.

"Just bring her back to us," Lois said. "I know you will."

Clark nodded. He didn't quite seem to know if he should say goodbye any other way. Lois punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Off you go, Smallville."

The Legion was already outside. Clark and Lois joined them. Clark waved the crystal at Lois, then blurred away. The Legion followed in pursuit in the air.

"Well, that was different," Lois breathed when they were gone. She went to find Clark's keys for the truck.

She didn't know how long it would take Clark to release Chloe from Brainiac's power, but apparently it took about as long as the time she needed to find Clark's keys and drive to the hospital. She had just parked the car when she saw Clark blur up carrying Chloe and followed by the Legion. She ran and followed them into the hospital. The Legion waited outside.

"Clark," Lois called when she entered the waiting room. "Is Chloe ok?"

"She's gonna be fine," Clark said.

Chloe was already being wheeled into a room. Lois stretched to see her. She looked pale and tired, but she was alive and the color was slowly returning to her cheeks. Lois sighed happily. Going back to the past hadn't changed Chloe's fate.

"The crystal worked perfectly," Clark said. He and Lois walked back outside to the Legion. "Chloe was in the Fortress and all I had to do was hold the crystal up and it did its thing."

"What happened to Brainiac?" Lois asked.

"He's right here," Rokk said, holding up a smooth black metallic sphere. "We're taking him back with us to the thirty-first century. We should be able to reprogram him for something."

"As long as it's safe," Lois said.

"And when will you be heading back to your future?" Imra said pointedly to Lois.

"Not quite yet," Lois said, carefully not looking at Clark. "I still have some things to change."

"Good luck, then," Rokk said. "Kal, why don't we see how much of the barn we can fix before we go?"

"I'll be back to check on everyone when I'm done," Clark said.

"Don't worry about us," Lois said. "You've already saved us enough for one day."

Clark smiled and then left again with the Legion. Lois was about to go back inside to find Chloe, Jimmy, and young Lois when she saw a strange flash of light across the parking lot. She started to walk towards it, not able to fight the feeling that light flashes weren't the best signs lately.

"Lois," she heard someone call to her.

She turned around to find Lana running after her. "Lana?"

"Chloe's awake, c'mon," Lana said, pulling her arm. "Everyone's waiting for us. Chloe's already heard about you."

Lois reached for her purse. It would be so easy to send Lana to the Phantom Zone now. She wouldn't even have to explain it to anyone. Her timing must have been off again, though, for as soon as she reached into her purse an ambulance pulled up to the hospital. Forcefully pulled inside by Lana and pushed inside by the ambulance crew, Lois reluctantly closed her purse again. She looked back at the parking lot, but couldn't see anything in the place where the flash of light had been.

She really needed to stop getting distracted from her mission. She needed to get rid of Lana. But what was that light about?

******

AN: I'm going to have to ask you, dear readers, for some patience with the rest of the chapters. I'm going to have to rewatch the episodes that each chapter is going to deal with. I know, I know, it sounds terrible. I will try not to have any sharp objects near me as I watch them. I could be tempted to end my misery. Just be patient as I, like our much-loved Lois, try to fix things. Reviews are wonderful!


	5. Future, Meet Past

AN: It's finally here! This is the new and improved version of the episode "Bulletproof." No nasty CLana kiss at the end! I promise!

******

**Chapter Five: Future, Meet Past**

"_When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened."_ ~John M. Richardson, Jr.

"_My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."_ ~Charles F. Kettering

"_There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction."_ ~Winston Churchill

*******

Lois had planned on springing the crystal on Lana the morning after Chloe and Jimmy were released from the hospital. Chloe and Jimmy had gone back to the Talon to start their low-budget honeymoon. That basically meant they were locking themselves in the apartment for a few days. No one really wanted to ask for more information on that. Lois, young Lois, and Lana had all gone back to the farmhouse to stay with Clark.

Awkward? Like you wouldn't believe.

That was why Lois wanted to get rid of Lana as fast as possible. Her body had other plans, though. Sleeping in a random spare room while Lana got Mrs. Kent's room, young Lois had Clark's room, and Clark crashed on the couch, Lois had slept through most of the next day. By the time she woke up, Lana and everyone else was gone. Lois ignored the nagging voice in her head that told her she was getting lazy because it was so nice to be back with her friends.

Young Lois had left her a note saying that she and Clark had gone into work at the Daily Planet. Her younger self had advised Lois to find a disguise if she planned on staying in her past any longer.

Which is why Lois found herself entering the Daily Planet bullpen wearing a black wig and fake glasses. She felt ridiculous. She refused to go near any mirrors.

"Now I know never to dye my hair black," young Lois said as soon as she saw Lois.

"You're welcome. See, I'm making the future better already," Lois said. Clark's desk was empty, but she pulled a chair up to young Lois' desk anyway. "What's going on?"

"City council member was mysteriously killed this morning," Lois said. She pushed the file over. "Tess actually put me and Smallville on it."

"Where is he?" Lois said.

"He went down to Metropolis General to pull the coroner's report. I figured I'd let him do it the hard way while I checked with some sources. He also said something about trying to find out more about whatever took Chloe."

"Nice. And where is Lana?" Lois said nonchalantly.

"I don't know, I'm not her babysitter," young Lois snapped. "How are you doing with fixing things?"

Lois adjusted the wig slightly, trying to scratch an itch. "It's going slow."

Young Lois stopped typing and looked at her. "I don't want to seem rude, since you're me, but how long is this going to take? You said you had a plan. You said you'd be in and out. I wasn't going to have to worry about anything. You're still here."

"I know, I know," Lois said quietly, massaging the stump of her missing pinky. "You think I like hanging around and reliving things? I had a plan, but it's sort of different now. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. You don't want me messing up your…our life, do you?"

"It's just weird," young Lois whispered. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"I don't think so," Lois said after a moment. "Let me see if I can figure out a few things first. If I can't make any headway, you're the first person I'll come to."

"I'd feel a whole lot better about this if it sounded like you knew what you were doing," young Lois said.

"I just need to find someone," Lois said, trying to sound like she had things under control.

Young Lois looked at her intently. "Is it Clark? Is he the one you have to change? Because, believe me, that farm boy moves about zero miles an hour when it comes to change. I think he's still got clothes from middle school."

Lois laughed. "It might be easier if it were Clark. At least he's easier to find."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Clark said as he entered the bullpen with a pile of papers. He sat down at his desk and started rifling through them anxiously.

"Whoa, Sparky, calm down," young Lois said. "Where's the coroner's report?"

"Oh, sorry, it's right here," Clark said. He pulled a file from the bottom of the pile and handed it to her distractedly.

"What's going on?" Lois asked.

"I just found out that a friend of mine got shot. He's a detective on the Metropolis Police Force, but things aren't adding up," Clark said.

Young Lois looked up from the report, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm going to do a little digging. Jones saved my life once. I owe it to him to figure out who did this. It looks like he was pulling profiles on a handful of officers from the 44th precinct," Clark said.

"I didn't know your hacking skills were that great," young Lois said.

"Chloe's a good teacher," Clark simply said.

"Let me help sort through those while you try your hacking some more," Lois said.

"You look different with glasses," Clark said, actually looking at her for the first time that day.

"Doesn't everyone?" Lois replied, wheeling over to start going over the information.

It took Clark about half an hour, but he finally worked his way into the evidence files on the Jones case. "Ballistics says it was a BG-49 Armor-Piercing Bullet. Hmm, that's strange. It's missing from the evidence."

"You said he was looking into the 44th?" young Lois asked.

Clark nodded, "Only someone from that system could've stolen the evidence. This might have been an inside job."

"An inside job?" young Lois said, now getting really intrigued.

"Someone higher up needs to know about this," Clark said. He had that determined, but stupid, look in his eye.

"Hold up, take it from me, Smallville, you can't just waltz up to a government institution and expect them to open up to you," Lois said.

"Can I remind you of that later?" Clark managed to joke.

"She's right. Cops protect their own," young Lois said. "They seal up any attempt to pick apart what happens inside their precinct."

"So I won't use my press pass," Clark said. "I'll find another way. I'll see you guys in a little while."

Lois looked at her younger self. "I had forgotten how reckless he could be."

"It's ridiculous," young Lois agreed. "He just has to be Mr. Fix-it. Going to get himself killed one day," she muttered.

They worked for a few more hours and were about to give up on waiting for Clark when he walked back into the bullpen. Both Lois Lanes froze what they were doing. He had managed to get himself a Metropolis Police Officer uniform and was actually pulling it off. Not that either one would dare to tell him that.

"Please tell me you didn't lose a bet to Chloe," young Lois said after a moment. "If you pull a boom box from behind your back, I am so leaving.

Clark grinned. "You're looking at the newest member of the Metropolis PD."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lois said. "How did you worm your way into that?"

"I've got connections," Clark said easily.

"Connections?" young Lois said, not buying it. "And do these connections include the proper training to wear that badge? I'm pretty sure the other guys will figure that out real quick."

"They take care of each other, remember?" Clark said. "Relax, you two, I'll be fine."

"Wear your vest," young Lois said.

"Lois, I'm touched, you're really worried about me," Clark said. He was still grinning.

"Worried? Please, Smallville," young Lois bristled. "I'm more worried about the poor schmuck they stick you with."

"It could work," Lois said. "Just remember to keep the gun safety on. And don't shoot yourself either."

"Har har, laugh all you like. You two should come to dinner tonight at the farm. Lana's coming, too."

"Why don't I pick her up on the way?" Lois volunteered.

"Sure, thanks. She's at the Isis Foundation," Clark said before he left.

Lois and her younger self continued to close up what they were working on. They tried to ignore each other, but that didn't work so well.

"I know we're both thinking it, so I'm just going to say it," Lois said finally. "He looked absolutely delicious in that get-up."

"Mmmhmmm, delicious," young Lois agreed. "Excellent word choice. I'm glad to see we can agree on that."

They looked at each other, then, and dissolved into giggles.

"I've…you've…we've, I guess, always had a weak spot for a crime-fighter in a uniform," Lois said, wiping her eyes and gasping for breath.

"Yes we have," young Lois said resolutely. "That isn't likely to change. Clark had better wear that vest, though, if he knows what's good for him."

"Ever wish his mom would just come back and have a long talk with him?" Lois asked.

Young Lois rolled her eyes, "Only every other week."

"I'm going to pick up Lana," Lois said. Young Lois waved to her and continued packing up as Lois left.

The Isis Foundation was pretty much as Lois remembered it, although she had never really hung out there a lot. That was more of Chloe's preoccupation with meteor freaks than Lois' deal. On the landing outside the office she would have knocked, but the door was already slightly open. She peered inside, pushing the crack ajar a bit more, and nearly fell into the room when she saw what was inside. She clamped a hand over her mouth and backed up quickly, bumping against the wall softly.

Lex Luthor was talking to Lana. And Lana wasn't running away. She actually looked interested in what Luthor was saying.

Lois didn't know how much she would be able to hear, but she knew she had to try. She crept back to the door and squatted low to avoid being seen. She kept her hand over her mouth and tried to breathe as quietly as she could. Even then, she wasn't sure that they couldn't hear just how hard her heart was hammering in her chest.

"I can help you get everything you've ever wanted," Luthor was saying. "You know I have the resources to do that."

"At the rate I'm going, I can just take anything I want," Lana sneered back. "I've already got a plan. Why should I join the Lex Luthor team again? You're barely anything now."

"I'm more than I ever was in these days," Luthor said. "I'm really from the future. The year 2020, in fact. My future. The future I created with my own two hands. Everything that the world becomes is because of me."

"You're from the future too?" Lana asked. She sounded far too intrigued. "Like Lois is?"

"Lois Lane is here?" Luthor asked, enraged.

Lois scooted back from the door slightly. This was bad on so many levels. How had he gotten here from the future? Why hadn't Jor-El closed the portal?

"She was at the farmhouse with Clark and the Lois from now. She looks awful. She's still domineering and annoying as hell, though."

"What is she doing here?" Luthor said.

"She must be trying to change something here in her past," Lana said. "How did you get here?"

"I was chasing her in the future. I tracked her down to the Fortress. She jumped through a strange portal in the wall and I followed her before Jor-El could close it on me. I landed in the parking lot of Smallville medical. I haven't even seen that weasely reporter yet."

Lois could barely keep track of what was going on. She couldn't believe he had managed to follow her. At least she knew what the light from the parking lot was now.

"So, you actually need my help?" Lana said slowly. "The great Lex Luthor, even from the future, still needs me."

"It was always going to be me and you, Lana," Luthor said.

"Prove it," Lana said.

"In the future, you still come back to my side," Luthor said. The huskiness in his voice sent shivers down Lois' back. "We neutralize Clark's powers and you help me build a whole new society. No one can match us."

"Then why not wait for the future?" Lana said.

"Because that twerp Lane has already impacted it, hasn't she? If she's working to fix our future, then we've got to work to keep it."

Lana hesitated.

"I can give you power. Even if you think you can take it for yourself, I can give it to you and make it much easier. I know what you're planning to do and I can help you help me. I can give you all the power you've ever dreamed of. In the future, you tell me about how you had dreamed of having Clark's powers. I can get them for you. You will know power."

Lois had a nagging suspicion that Luthor was playing cards that didn't belong to him. If what Jor-El had said about the nano-suit was true, it would seem that Lana had gotten her power even without Luthor's help. Knowing the future had helped Lois already. She was sure it would also help Luthor.

"All right, I'm in," Lana finally said. "What do I need to do?"

Lois swore, very loudly, in her head.

"Stay close to Clark. Keep an eye on what he's doing. I know you tracked my wifi signal from Tess Mercer. She has her uses, but you're my number one now. I'll keep you apprised of how I want you to deal with her. I'll call you soon when I'm in a more secure setting. I need to check on a few things, like myself, for example."

Luthor turned for the door. Lois ran as quietly as possible down the hall and threw herself in a doorway. The door to the Isis Foundation banged open and shut. Lois didn't even trust herself to move her hand from her mouth until she couldn't hear Luthor's footsteps any more.

Lois struggled to remain calm. She had to think about how to handle all of this. The Luthor from her time was now in the past. She had no idea where the Luthor of this time was. In the future, if she remembered what Jor-El said, Lana still eventually helped Luthor track down Clark. Luthor evidently was trying to recruit her earlier into his schemes since he had come back. It made sense that he would try to find his first lieutenant in the past even if she hadn't been part of his group at this time.

What was Lois supposed to do, then? She couldn't leave Luthor in the past to mess around with the timeline. Ideally, she could send him and Lana to the Phantom Zone together, but she had had trouble sending just Lana, let alone Lana and a Luthor from the future. Was she supposed to tell Clark? She didn't even know where to start that story. Maybe it was time to take young Lois up on her offer of help?

No matter what she ultimately did, for now she had to pretend she hadn't seen anything and bring Lana to the farmhouse for dinner. She would rather jump off the roof of the Daily Planet without a parachute. This was getting far too complicated.

She knocked on the door of the Isis Foundation. Lana answered quickly and didn't seem to recognize her.

"Lana?" Lois said. She remembered her disguise and pulled off her glasses. "Sorry, it's Lois. I'm here to pick you up. Clark's making dinner at the farmhouse."

"Oh, right, of course," Lana said. She smiled perkily. Lois managed to return some sort of movement of her mouth, but only because she was fighting the urge to gag.

They spent most of the ride in an awkward silence. Lois was determined not to break the silence. She didn't trust herself to start a conversation that didn't begin with, 'so, how's old baldy doing?' Her mouth didn't always edit what she was thinking, but being in the past certainly made her try harder.

"Is everything like you remember?" Lana said abruptly.

"Not everything," Lois said. She was determined not to let anything slip to this flip-flopper. "But some things never change. Smallville's still Smallville."

"Do you mean Clark or the town?" Lana said teasingly.

"Both, I guess," Lois said.

"I just think it would be weird to know so much about the future and be back here when all of that hasn't happened. Do you even know what you're really doing here?"

Lois could see Lana watching her intently out of the corner of her eye. She focused on driving and a carefully worded response. "It is a little strange to see how things are different. But I know what happens. I know there are things I can't change. I know there are things that need to stay about the same."

That seemed to shut up Lana for the rest of the drive. Lois surmised that neither one of them really knew how to push the other for information. There were too many differences between them. Even without taking time into the equation, they had always been very different women. Lois would never dream of not being loyal to Clark. Lana had always been out for herself more.

Back at the farmhouse, Lois and Lana managed to be at least cordial to each other throughout dinner. Dinner was a little strained, but the two Loises got along well and Clark was just trying to make everyone happy. Lois kept on waiting for her chance to talk to her younger self, but didn't have the opportunity until Clark went to bed early and Lana turned in at about the same time.

"I need to talk to you," Lois said to young Lois as they were finding Lois more clothes in Clark's room.

"Sure, what happened?" young Lois said, noticing the tone in Lois' voice.

"I need your help after all," Lois said, sitting on the bed. "But I'm not sure how much I can tell you. I'll tell you as much as I can."

"Shoot," young Lois said.

"Remember how I've said the future is terrible? Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Lex Luthor is the reason behind that. I know, let me finish. He tracked me to the…place where I journeyed back in time from. I didn't know until a few hours ago that he had managed to use the same way to come back in time, too. He was talking to Lana at the Isis Foundation when I went to pick her up. She's going to help him now."

"That bitch!" young Lois said quietly. It took her a moment to absorb the information. "What can we do? Can we tie her up and leave her somewhere? Can you still fix what you came to fix anyway? Will that take care of Lex?"

Lois rubbed her left hand, feeling tired again. "I came back to remove Lana's influence on Clark. Apparently, she's helping Luthor in the future, too. If we can undermine what she's doing now to help Luthor, and if I can do what I came to do, then she won't have the chance to help Luthor in the future either."

"Lana can't be that much of a big deal." Young Lois looked doubtful.

"She gets power somehow," Lois said with a shrug. "I don't know too much, which makes this harder. I need to be able to keep an eye on Lana's dealings with Luthor now. And we need to find Luthor."

"I'll get Chloe's help," young Lois said. "She can take some time on the computer even during her honeymoon whatever thing. She'll do it for this. Do you have any idea what Lex is up to?"

"He'll be trying to stop me. I'm guessing whatever plans he was working on at this time he'll want to carry those through, too. I hope he knows less than I do. He said something about Tess Mercer," Lois said.

"I can keep an eye on Tess," young Lois said. "Two Lois Lanes can definitely handle Lana and Lex. Except…do we tell Clark?"

Lois hesitated. "I really don't know. He's doing his cop dress-up tomorrow. I don't think he needs to worry about Luthor yet. We'll tell him when we know more and when he's helped his friend."

"Ok, we'll work on this tomorrow. We just have to be careful around, well, everyone I guess," young Lois said.

Lois and young Lois spent most of the next day juggling between fielding reports on the dead city councilman and researching Lex Luthor. Since Clark was out pretending to be a cop, neither one of them really knew what he was doing. Lois hoped that he didn't overuse his superpowers and give himself away to the shady cops that could have set up Jones. Since young Lois was recognizable to Tess, Lois took the job of tracking her for most of the day. Luckily, Tess spent most of the day at the Daily Planet. When she did finally leave, Lois followed her in a taxi; leaving young Lois to continue the small amount of digging they'd been able to come up with on Luthor. They weren't making much headway.

Surprisingly, when Tess left the office, she went to the Isis Foundation. Lois managed to sneak upstairs again and took up the same reconnaissance position.

"It seems that you stole some sensitive information from me," Tess was saying to Lana as Lois listened in. "And I thought we were bonding."

Lois wasn't sure when this bonding had taken place, but she was willing to bet that Tess wasn't going to get anymore bonding with Lana since future Luthor showed up.

"Rain check on girl's night?" Lana said sarcastically.

"You know it's nice to finally see what Lex saw in you," Tess said. "You're stunning."

Lois had no idea how this pertained to anything.

"And devious," Tess added in a darker undertone.

"What Lex saw in me was an equal," Lana countered. "Someone that he couldn't control."

The tone of Lana's voice sent a cold shiver up Lois' back. She had to get rid of Luthor and Lana before they could destroy what she was trying to fix.

"Really? I guess I shouldn't send my condolences about the miscarriage then?" Tess said.

"It gave me perspective," Lana said simply. She crossed to the other side of the room. Lois couldn't really see what was happening anymore.

"He always loved you," Tess said. "When you stole the data you corrupted our files. We've lost everything. Prometheus is the one chance Lex has at survival and I won't let you jeopardize that."

"I'm not trying to jeopardize anything," Lana said. "I'm just trying to find information."

There was a sudden gunshot and then a flurry of activity within the office. Lana pushed Tess into the door, breaking glass over Lois' head. She moved to a corner beside the door, wanting to stay close without being seen. There were sounds of things breaking and punches connecting. Then, silence.

"Were you this devoted before or after your accident," Lana said suddenly.

"You've done your research, I'm impressed," Tess said.

"Three years ago, you were in South America collecting disease samples for LuthorCorp. Your camp was destroyed by an explosion and you were left for dead."

"Lex saved my life. I owe him everything," Tess said.

"Let me show you how Lex repays that kind of loyalty. This will open your eyes," Lana said.

Lois desperately wanted to know what was going on, but she didn't dare move from her hiding spot.

"A nanotransmitter was wired to your optic nerve," Lana said. "You've been Lex's eyes and ears for some time now. Lex is watching us right now. He might have saved you, but he never trusted you. I'm sorry. I can set you up with a way to block it, if you'd like."

"Thank you, but I can do that too," Tess said.

Lois decided there probably wouldn't be too much more of this conversation. As quietly as she could, she backed down the stairs and ran for the pay phone outside the building.

"Lois? Hi, It's Lois," Lois said into the phone.

"I'm just leaving the Planet. Clark called and said he'd taken care of everything and would be back at the farmhouse soon. Where are you?" young Lois said.

"Outside of Isis. Can you come pick me up?"

"Sure, I'll be there asap."

Lois hung up the phone. She needed to talk this out with someone. She understood the connection between Tess and Luthor after Lana's discussion, but she still couldn't figure out how Lana was working for Luthor now. He must have contacted her earlier in the day about how he wanted her to deal with Tess. Somehow, Tess being able to block the nanotransmitter thingie would help future Luthor mess with the past. Lois wished she knew more, but she was running on pretty scant intel.

Young Lois only took about twenty minutes to arrive. Tess had left some time ago, but Lana was still nowhere to be seen. In the car, Lois explained what she had overheard between Tess and Lana, but she and young Lois weren't able to come up with many plausible explanations for what was going on.

"Let's face it," young Lois said as they pulled up to the farmhouse. "Lex is usually about three steps in front of everyone. We'll just have to work harder to figure out what angle he's coming from."

"If I knew where they both were going to be at the same time, I could end all this," Lois said.

Clark was sitting in the living room when they entered.

"Hey Smallville," they said at the same time.

"Hi, uh, Lois," he said to both of them.

"How'd everything go?" young Lois asked.

"Everything's been cleared up," Clark said. "I got some help, but managed to find out who set up Jones. He's healing and should be better soon."

"That's great," young Lois said.

"Good work," Lois added.

"Yeah," Clark sighed.

Lois looked at young Lois and they shared a look before joining him on the sofa. "What's wrong then?" young Lois asked.

"I don't know," Clark said wistfully. "I've just been sitting here thinking about the greater good. Thinking about all the sacrifices that people have to make in the search for justice."

Lois didn't like where he could be going with this. "Even if they're fighting crime or pursuing justice, people still manage to have a life. Having a life doesn't mean they can't do good things. There's a natural balance. Cops recognize this. Their families know it too. I'll bet anything that even with the risks, a cop's family wouldn't have it any other way. They know what they're getting into."

"It just doesn't seem fair," Clark said.

"People do what makes them happy, Clark," young Lois said. "No matter how it may seem. No one sits by and is deliberately unhappy if they can help it. If a wife really loves her husband, then she'll understand why he is a police officer. Fighting for justice doesn't mean you won't be loved."

"I guess so," Clark said.

"I know what you need," young Lois said. "Something that truly isn't fair and you have no way of dealing with."

"What's that?" Clark said. He was starting to sound more normal.

"Monopoly."

Clark chuckled as young Lois went searching for the board game.

"Don't worry about having to sacrifice everything you love," Lois said softly to him. "You can still work for the greater good without giving up everything. If you want to, you can find a way to fit everything into your life. Your capacity to love will not let you be alone. Don't worry."

Clark smiled at her. "Thanks," he said.

Lois was glad that he was looking less depressed. As young Lois broke out the fake money, Lois wondered when Lana would be coming back. She wanted to see how Lana would act around Clark now that she and Luthor seemed to be firmly in cahoots. She needed to find the best way to eject Lana and Luthor from this timeline. She would just have to spend the entire next day hiding out and Isis waiting for Lana and Luthor to meet up.

For now, she would try to beat Clark and another Lois at Monopoly.

************

AN: Sorry this took so long! Since Clark was pretty much doing stuff on his own in this episode, it would have been too complicated to have Lois tag along. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap this up in the next couple of chapters. I've got an idea of what I want to do. Stay with me! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Feel free to request anything you'd like to see happen and I'll see if I can work it in!


	6. To End Their Power

AN: Like I said, this took a bit of time to fix the mess that "Power" was. No one should ever watch that episode twice. Just a warning to all you readers out there: don't watch it again. Read this instead!

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**Chapter Six: To End Their Power**

"_Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other."_ ~Carl Jung

"_When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."_ ~Jimi Hendrix

"_I will not surrender responsibility for my life and my actions."_ ~John Enoch Powell

********

Lois was careful to set an alarm for the next morning. She did not want to waste another half of a day by sleeping. There would be plenty of time for sleep in the future, especially if that future had no Luthor or Lana. So when her alarm went off at 8:47, even though her bed was nice and warm, she pulled herself out of bed and hoped that Clark or young Lois had made coffee downstairs.

She stumbled out of the room and was halfway down the stairs when she realized that Clark and young Lois were in the living room. She heard the tail end of something that sounded like Lana's break-up DVD to Clark, but then someone turned it off. Looking back, she really wished she had burned that thing the day after Clark got it. Lois waited on the stairs, listening intently and not wanting to further complicate that situation.

"What're you up to, Smallville?" young Lois said.

"I needed to remind myself that Lana left for a reason," Clark said.

"You didn't get that the first time you watched this?" young Lois said.

"I know, I know," Clark said. "I don't even know why I turned this on. I'm digging up feelings from the past that need to stay buried for everyone's sake."

"So put away the shovel," young Lois said. Lois privately agreed profusely.

"Yeah," Clark said. "Lana thought she was never coming back and she was right. I mean, look what happened after she left: I got off the farm, I got a job, I started feeling like I could actually help people."

"Everyone grows up and figures out what they want to do with their life, eventually," young Lois said. "You've done pretty well for yourself, all in all."

"You really think so?" Clark said. "You're not just saying this so I put that disc away?"

"Well, I think you know you should put that away without me saying so, but yeah, I do think so," young Lois said. "You are growing up. Which is why I think it's important that I tell you something. I mean, we need to get future me here too, but I think we should talk to you."

Lois took this as her cue. She walked down the rest of the stairs and entered the living room. "Good morning. I take it we're telling him now?"

Young Lois actually jumped slightly, looking a bit taken aback. "Uh, I just thought we were planning on telling him anyway."

"No, you're right," Lois agreed. "He should know now."

"Know what?" Clark finally said.

"Coffee first," Lois said. "And you need to have an open mind, Smallville."

Five minutes later, with a cup of steaming coffee in her hand and sitting around the table with Clark and young Lois, Lois tried to find the best way to present the situation to Clark. "Eleven years may seem like a long time and a lot certainly has changed between my time and this time now, but some things haven't changed a lot. For example, Luthor may still be missing at this time, but in my time, he's taken over the government and is mobilizing to take over everything else. He's the reason why my future is terrible."

"What? How is that possible? Why didn't…someone stop him?" Clark said, struggling not to allude to his powers.

"In my time, I don't know where there are people that could stop him," Lois said significantly. Clark looked like he understood and his brow furrowed. "Now, that part might be believable enough, but now we're diving headfirst into the rabbit hole. Remember to keep that open mind. In the future, Luthor's right hand man is actually Lana Lang."

"Lana? That's impossible!" Clark yelled. "She wouldn't do that!"

"I'm just telling you what's happened!" Lois snapped back. "It's possible because it happened to me! So if you trust me you need to believe me. She gets power somehow and helps Luthor take down the people that could take down Luthor."

Clark sat there in silence, not knowing how to respond. Lois hoped he was keeping up. It was almost too early in the morning for her even to be fully conscious.

"Ok, so in my future, Lana helped Luthor. Unfortunately, Luthor managed to use the same way I did to time-travel and followed me here to this time. He's here in my past now."

"Luthor's here? Where?" Clark said angrily.

"I don't know where he is right now, but I know he's been in contact with Lana. I overheard them talking when I went to pick her up for dinner the other day. She accepted his help and is working with him now," Lois said.

Clark was quiet for a while. Young Lois sat nursing her own cup of coffee quietly but kept on glancing between Clark and Lois. Lois took long sips and tried not to stare too hard at Clark. She needed him to trust her and understand what she was saying.

"I'm not sure how I can believe you," Clark sighed. "This is Lana we're talking about. I don't think she'd do something like that."

"I know this is hard to believe, Clark, but this really is what seems to be going on. I don't know if Lana's the same person she was when she left," Lois said. She tried to sound as serious as she possibly could in the hopes that he would listen to her.

"People change," young Lois said quietly. "Look at what seven months has done for you."

Clark blinked at her as everyone recalled the discussion about the DVD.

"I need to talk to Lana," he said. "You're coming with me," he said to Lois. "Maybe this is all just a big misunderstanding. Jimmy got called out on assignment last night so Lana and Chloe had a girl's night at the Talon since the mini-honeymoon is over."

"You guys go ahead," young Lois said. "I don't think I really should be a part of this. I'll go back to the Planet and see if I can dig up anything else on Lex's plans."

Clark nodded grimly. After Lois had changed and put her disguise back on, she and Clark drove in silence to the Talon. She knew Clark had only brought her along in the hopes that Lana would be able to prove Lois wrong in front of her face and he wouldn't have to deal with relating the whole story to her. She didn't really know what she could say to Lana to get the truth out of her. She'd probably just have to make it up as she went along. Even though she hated this confrontation plan, maybe it would flush Luthor and Lana out if they tried to silence Lois.

"I don't think Lana would side with Lex in order to get rid of me," Clark finally said as they climbed the stairs up to the Talon apartment.

Lois wasn't sure if he was talking to her or trying to convince himself, but she had no real answer in any case.

Clark knocked on the door. No one answered. "Lana?" he called. He looked at Lois, who simply shrugged, and then opened the door.

The place was a mess. Furniture was upended, papers were all over the floor, frames on the walls were askew, and nearly every drawer was open. It looked like it had been ransacked by a tornado.

Before they even had a chance to react they heard a noise behind them. They spun around to see Tess Mercer pointing a gun at them.

"Clark," she said. She lowered the gun a bit but then noticed Lois and raised it again. "Who're you?"

"Clark's cousin," Lois said quickly. "I'm Kara."

"You can trust her. Anything you can say to me, you can say to her," Clark said. Lois hoped he believed that trusting part.

Tess lowered the gun again and ignored Lois as she focused on Clark. "I didn't know it was you."

"I didn't realize that breaking and entering was one of your hobbies," Clark said sternly.

"The damage was done when I got here," Tess said. "I was worried about Lana and I came to warn her but I was obviously too late."

"Warn her about what?" Clark said.

"It seems that she's been poking around some classified LuthorCorp technology," Tess said after a slight hesitation.

Lois didn't trust herself to say anything in the presence of Tess. It was weird being back next to her old boss, especially when she now knew so much about Tess. Lois had no idea where Lana could have went, but she had a feeling that the answer wasn't going to be clear-cut, no matter how much Clark would want it to be. She wandered around the apartment while Clark and Tess talked.

"The last time I checked, you were in charge of Luthercorp," Clark said to Tess.

"Everything but the nanotechnology dedicated to sustaining Lex's life," Tess said as she examined something on the floor.

"You think Lex is behind what happened to Lana?" Clark said.

Lois would have bet the whole future that it was in fact future Luthor that had orchestrated this disappearing act, but she wanted to know what angle Tess would lead Clark down. Lois was now definitely appreciating the ridiculous mess that time-travel created.

"I don't think, Clark, I know," Tess said. "And I am really concerned for her."

"Since when did you and Lana become close friends?" Clark said.

"I will forever be grateful to her," Tess said. She cast a quick glance at Lois before continuing. "Lana is responsible for finally showing me who Lex really is. The least that I can do is repay the favor."

"I knew Lex was still alive but I had no idea that he was still capable of kidnapping Lana from a distance," Clark said.

Lois really wished that she could just shout out that it must have been future Luthor. But since the other two people in the room were ignoring her, she knew she'd have to wait for when Clark had taken a moment to step back and think this through fully.

"It wouldn't be the first time he's abducted her from afar," Tess said. Clark looked at her sharply. "She didn't tell you," Tess added.

"Tell me what?" Clark said.

"Do you remember that DVD she made for you last spring?" Tess said. "Did you ever wonder how Lana got her hands on a video camera right after she awoke from a deep coma?" She proceeded to tell a story about Lana making the DVD at the gunpoint of Lex's men. Clark seemed to be buying the story, but Lois definitely wasn't.

"That disc was a lie?" Clark said when Tess finished. "She left because she was escaping from you? You're no better than Lex."

Tess looked flustered. "If I had known what I know now I would have never been a part of it. Lex convinced us it was for her own good."

"How nice of him to kidnap her," Clark said angrily.

"Lex also said that she was in that asylum because of you," Tess said. "That your relationship was so dysfunctional that you were constantly hurting her."

Clark chose to ignore that comment. "The thugs that Lex used, he could have used them again, what were their names?"

"They're both dead," Tess admitted. "The people Lex employs now are brand new without any ties to his past. I don't know what more I can do to help, but I have to go now." She gave Lois another unreadable look before she turned and left the apartment.

"See?" Clark said, rounding on Lois. "How could Lana work for Lex now if he kidnapped her? Twice!"

"I don't know what happened then, Clark, I only know what happened two days ago!" Lois yelled back. "I don't have all the answers! This doesn't make any sense, though. Take a step back and look at this. Look at it! We know that there are two Lex Luthors in this time right now. _We know that. _Lex may have taken her seven months ago, but I'm more willing to believe that she's with future Luthor now."

"So future Luthor kidnapped her. You must have been wrong about what you overheard, then," Clark said.

Lois desperately wanted to hit him hard on the head. He was so much easier to talk to when he wasn't being stupid over Lana Lang.

"I know what I heard," Lois said, her own anger rising. "You just don't want to believe me."

"How can I believe you when I'm hearing three different things?" Clark returned.

The door of the apartment and Chloe walked in. She paused when she saw the two of them angrily facing off against each other and then her eyes widened when she took in the rest of the apartment.

"What's going on?"

"Lana's missing," Clark said.

"What do you mean?" Chloe said.

"We don't know where she is but we think Lex kidnapped her," Clark ignored the noise Lois made at this. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"No, I went out to visit Jimmy at the Planet early this morning. Lana was still asleep and the apartment was fine," Chloe said. She looked around the room and then looked at Clark. "Look, I didn't say anything before because I promised Lana that I wouldn't, but I actually saw her a few months ago."

"You saw her? You saw her and you didn't tell me?" Clark said.

"I promised I wouldn't. You know I keep my promises," Chloe said.

"What happened? What did she say? Do you know anything that would explain why she's been kidnapped?" Clark said quickly.

Lois righted a chair and sat down. She knew this was more complicated than Clark seemed to think it should be. No one could really get kidnapped as often as Lana had.

Chloe told her story about running into Lana at the Isis Foundation. Lois was getting pretty tired of that place, to be honest. Apparently, Lana had come back to find out more about Project Ares, which was Lex's scheme to genetically enhance soldiers using alien DNA. Chloe had checked on the project, but it had been shut down a while ago.

"She must have just wanted to do her thing without other people getting in the way," Lois said when Chloe was done.

Clark shot her an angry look and she leaned back in the chair again. "Tess Mercer told me that Lana was looking into technology that could keep Lex alive and she thinks that Lex abducted her."

"Why would Lana want to keep Lex alive?" Lois said to the air. She was not going to let Clark snowball his own thoughts his own way without putting in her own two cents. She had to make him see the holes in this.

Chloe and Clark didn't pay too much attention to her while they were wrapped up in their own line of thought. "Since when do you trust what the First Lady of LutherCorp has to say?" Chloe asked Clark.

"Excellent question," Lois said again to no one in particular.

"She came clean with me," Clark said. "She told me that when Lana made that disc she was being held at gunpoint by a team of Lex's men led by Tess."

"If she didn't make that disc then why did she never come and see you?" Chloe said.

Lois looked at her young cousin carefully and tried to determine which side Chloe was on. She wasn't sure that she came up with an answer.

Clark didn't seem to have a good answer to this. "Maybe she was too busy planning her revenge on Lex. I need to find her before she does something she'll regret," he eventually offered.

"Let's go to Isis, maybe I can dig up something on Project Prometheus," Chloe said.

"Clark, can I take the truck into Metropolis to the Daily Planet? I want to check on something there," Lois said.

"Sure," Clark handed her the keys. "This isn't over, Lois. I know this isn't all adding up. Come and meet us at Isis when you're done at the Planet. We'll sort this out and find Lana."

Lois drove as fast as possibly dared on a license that wouldn't even be reissued for another five years. She needed to find Tess and make sure that her side of the story checked out. She wasn't sure how she was going to accomplish that short of a direct and strange confrontation, but she figured that searching Tess' office wasn't a bad start. She didn't even check in with her younger self once she reached the newspaper building, either. She went straight up to Tess' office; found it mercifully empty, and started opening drawers. She didn't find anything. She was about to leave when she saw Tess and a man approaching the office from the stairs. Not knowing where else to go, she ducked under Tess' desk.

"You're taking a big risk coming here in the daytime, Lex," Tess said.

Lois heard the door close and she swore in her head. What was Lex doing here? Which Lex Luthor was it? Why was she always getting stuck listening to other people's conversations these days?

"This disguise hasn't attracted any attention yet. No one would connect a Lex Luthor that's eleven years older and has hair with my younger counterpart," Luthor's voice said. "Besides, I needed to check in with your progress."

So, Luthor was moving around the past in a disguise, too. And Tess knew he was from the future? Luthor must not be taking any chances. He had found both Lana and Tess from his past and had somehow recruited them to his cause for the future. Lois had no idea how he had managed it. She had never really understood the Luthor charm.

"Clark's on Lana's trail. He bought the story about the kidnapping and the video camera. I'm not sure what his next move is, but he's probably trying to find out about what Lana did after you supposedly took her seven months ago. That should lead him to the Prometheus Project," Tess said.

Ha! Lois knew Tess' story was Swiss cheese. It always felt good to be right.

"Good, good," Luthor said. "The project should bring him to Lana soon enough. He's fairly predictable. Hopefully he'll understand what Lana's suit is when they are reconnected. Everything's happening just as it should."

That frakkin' nano-suit again. Lois was hoping that she would be able to stop all this before Lana got the suit, but she quickly realized that that's where Lana must have disappeared. The timing made sense. Good thing she still had the gun alongside the crystal in her purse.

"Lex, I know you told me all about the future that I help you build and how Lana was never supposed to tell me about how you gained information by having me be your eyes and ears, but why should Lana get this suit? Why not take it for yourself?" Tess said.

"Lana needs that suit for the long term," Luthor said. "She can get closer to Clark than I ever could. I'll need that later on. Plus, after I find Lois Lane from my time, I'll need to return to the future eventually. If everything works out according to my plans, I'll have a nano-suit in the future as well."

"Lois Lane from your time?" Tess said. "You never told me Lois Lane came back from the future too."

Lois didn't even have to purposefully breathe quietly at this point. She felt like she had no air in her lungs. Too much confusion was being cleared up too quickly. She was feeling almost faint from the information overload. Being right was exhausting.

"Yes, yes, she did. That's how I got back here."

"There was a woman with Clark at the Talon," Tess said after a moment. "She had horrible black hair. She said she was Clark's cousin, but she did look a bit like Lane."

"She was there?" Lex yelled. "She was there and heard everything you said to Clark? I'm trying to hold together what the future should be and you're telling everything to strange women?"

"I'm sorry, Lex," Tess stammered. "I was focused on telling Clark everything you told me to say. At least she's just following the same trail you left for him. Lane was always slow on the uptake."

"You need to find her," Lex said. "Find her and bring her to me. I'm going to check on Lana and the suit application. No more slip ups, Tess."

Lois saw Lex's feet leave the office, but Tess' heels walked to the desk. Lois tensed.

Tess moved something on the desk and picked up the phone. "Bring the car around," Tess simply said. Her heels then left the office, leaving Lois alone.

She waited three minutes before she crawled out from under the desk and ran for the stairs. She didn't stop running until she reached young Lois' desk in the bullpen. She pulled her younger self into a supply closet and shut the door firmly, ignoring young Lois' protests until they were completely alone.

She quickly told the story of everything that had happened so far that day, from meeting Tess in the Talon to Chloe's story and ending with Luthor and Tess up in the office. She was nearly wheezing for breath by the time she was done and she felt a little tired from the steady supply of adrenaline she'd been running on all day, but she was finally able to relax.

"This is ridiculous," young Lois said. "Luthor's using both Lana and Tess. He's pitting them against each other and against Clark."

"Exactly," Lois said. She massaged her left hand slightly, but it was more from habit than from actual pain. "But Luthor never was the type to have only one iron in the fire at a time. He's trying to preserve what happens in the future by helping Lana along her path. He's also trying to fix what Tess did in the past by pulling her into his plans, too. He's pulling every string he can find to try and stop me."

"He's just making sure everyone thinks they're dependent on him for the sake of the future," young Lois snorted. "I would love to know the cock-and-bull story he made up to get Lana and Tess to follow his plans again."

"I only heard the end of his discussion with Lana the other day," Lois reminded her. "Tess probably would have been a harder sell. I don't even know when he approached Tess. He's feeding them lines and stories, though. He's telling them exactly how to act and what to say about him and about each other. I don't think any of it's real. It doesn't matter now, though, it's still us against them for the future."

"What's your plan now?" young Lois said.

"I'm going back to Isis to keep up with Chloe and Clark," Lois decided. "I'll tell them about Luthor and Tess. They usually find information at crucial times."

Young Lois nodded, "They do have that habit, don't they? I'm getting bogged down in security systems here. I can hardly do anything but cover for Clark and work on regular news."

"Just let us know if you see anyone that looks like Luthor or if Tess comes looking for us," Lois said. "This is starting to move even faster. I'm just hoping that I can wrap all of this up soon."

"You need to get Clark to believe you," young Lois said seriously. "Whatever you do to Lana, you need to make sure that he understands and doesn't stop you."

"You're right," Lois nodded. "That's why I need to get back to Isis. I'll call you if something comes up."

"Don't forget to get rid of Luthor, too," young Lois said. "Let's not drag this out any longer than it needs to be."

Lois quickly and carefully left the Daily Planet building and raced back to the Isis Foundation to find Clark and Chloe. She didn't see any of Tess or Luthor's cronies, but she knew that it was only a matter of time until she was tracked down again. She would need to stick close to Clark to prevent that.

Clark and Chloe were watching video screens of Lana talking to some guy in glasses when Lois walked in. They turned when she walked in but then resumed watching. She joined them by the computers.

"I found out you designed Prometheus," Lana was saying to the guy. "I want to commend you, that is an amazing achievement."

Lois thought Lana was laying it on a little thick.

"You must be mistaken, Mrs. Luthor," the guy said.

"It's Miss Lang," Lana corrected. "That will never change. I promise, Doctor, I don't intend on destroying your technology. I want to put it to good use."

"I'm an academic, I hold a chair in biophysics at Metropolis University," the doctor said.

"Where you designed and built a meta-dermal skin graft that will not only sustain Lex's health but will give him super-human abilities," Lana said.

This doctor must have been the one that Lana got the suit from, Lois realized. But when was this conversation from?

"Super-human abilities?" the doctor said. "Have you taken up reading comic books?"

"For someone intelligent enough to harness alien DNA into the ultimate power suit, you are dangerously naïve," Lana said. "What good will your technology do in the hands of a madman? You and I both know that Lex is too dangerous to wear it. But I can."

"I'm sorry, Miss Lang," the doctor said. "I don't have time to discuss fictitious—"

Lana interrupted him, "Do you want to be remembered for saving people's lives and for improving the human condition all over the world? I have a space in East Metropolis in a warehouse in 95th and Bristol. You can set up your lab. Tell your coworkers it was on Lex's orders and that he wanted me to be the guinea pig. It's not so farfetched, is it?"

The video ended. Lois was having a bit of trouble connecting the dots with this new information.

"When was this from?" Lois asked.

"A few months ago," Chloe said.

"Her attitude's changed since then," Lois remarked.

Chloe disregarded this. "Clark, I don't think Lana was kidnapped," Chloe said.

"That's what I've been saying," Lois said.

"Lana doesn't want to destroy the technology, she wants to use it on herself," Clark said.

Lois wondered what had taken him so long to figure that out. "Yeah, but was the Lex from the past really willing to have her take it? I think he'd have a better handle on the thing that's going to save his life than that."

"Why are you so willing to believe that Lana would work for Lex?" Clark suddenly yelled at her.

"Because I'm from the future and I know what happens, Clark!" Lois yelled back. "When will you get that through your thick head? You may not believe it now, but I'm telling you that someday Lana Lang works with Lex Luthor! Jor-El told me that you even figured this out in the future! If she does it eventually, why not now?"

"This doesn't make sense," Clark offered weakly. "She set up a way to get the suit before Luthor came back in time. Why would she work with him now to get the suit if she didn't need him?"

"I don't know how Lana's mind works," Lois said derisively. "But he said it would be easier if he helped her. If he talked to this doctor guy then that would have made the suit application process even easier. We don't know what happened between Lana and the doctor between this conversation and now. Maybe he was balking until Luthor from the future showed up and told him it was ok to give the suit to Lana."

"But this is Lana," Chloe said softly.

"Lana is not perfect!" Lois said loudly. They needed to get on her side. "Do you want to know why I came back? Do you really want the whole story just so that you believe me?"

"That would help," Clark said.

"Fine!" Lois yelled. "I came back because Jor-El told me that Lana is the crucial piece in determining the future. Her influence on you, Clark, leads to the terrible future where Luthor is in charge. Lana ruins the future! Do you know how bad that is? Chloe, unless I do this, you are going to be tortured to death in five years. And Clark…I don't know where you are. You're certainly not dressing up in an outfit and saving the world. Lana and Lex did something to you. Yes, Lana worked to keep you from using your powers. Do you really want that to happen? I'm the only one alive in my future!"

"I die?" Chloe said.

Clark looked at Lois sadly. He pulled her into a hug, which took her by surprise. But then again, he was a hugger. She didn't want to relax in his arms, but she couldn't help it. "I'm so sorry, Lois. I just want to make sure that you're right before we condemn Lana for things she hasn't done yet."

"We need to find her then," Lois said as he released her.

"Do you have a plan?" Clark asked.

Lois thought for a minute. "We'll go find this lab place. We'll talk to Lana and figure out what she's doing with Luthor. If I'm right about her involvement with Luthor, then I need to go ahead with my plan from the future. I have something that will remove the suit from Lana."

"And then what?" Chloe said.

"I have this," Lois pulled the crystal out of her purse. "But I would prefer using it on Lana and Luthor at the same time."

"That's a Phantom Zone crystal," Clark said with horror. "You're sending her there? She'll die!"

"She might not, look how long Kara survived there, Clark," Lois said. "This is what Jor-El said to do. You know bad things happen when you don't follow what he says."

"If you're right…I'll do it," Clark said after a long moment of silence. "I should be the one. It's my responsibility to protect the future as much as it's yours."

"We'll do it together," Lois offered.

Clark nodded, looking determined. "Let's just go."

Lois nodded and put the crystal back in her purse. Clark stepped towards her and pulled her to his side. He advised her to keep her feet up and then he started running. Lois felt like her hip was connected to a train rather than Clark. The wind whipped through her hair as Clark took miles by the second. She wasn't sure how this compared to flying, but she certainly appreciated the speed. It didn't take long before they were bursting into the lab. Lana was smiling and stepping out of a glass chamber.

"Lana!" Clark called.

"Hello, Clark, Lois," Lana said.

"What're you doing?" Clark said. "Do you have the suit on already? Are you ok?"

Lana continued smiling, which really creeped Lois out. "I have the suit. I've never felt better. All this power…I can feel it tingling on my skin. It's amazing."

"The last time you had powers it didn't end so well," Clark cautioned, taking a step in front of Lois.

Lana held up an arm, examining her appearance. "I'm different now. I've prepared myself for this power. This suit is meant to be mine."

"It's too dangerous, Lana," Clark said. "It's never been tested on humans."

"Give Lex credit where credit is due," Lana said sharply, only partially paying attention to Clark. She clenched a fist and focused on it. "He pulls off the impossible when it comes to science. It's happened on more than one occasion." She unclenched her fist and began wiggling her fingers. "You don't need to protect me anymore. I can take care of myself."

Clark turned to look at Lois. Her eyes widened and she shrugged. She didn't know how he was supposed to reach her, either. If he was looking to bring her back to the good side, it looked like she wasn't going to go easily.

"You don't know what's going to happen," Clark said to Lana.

"Yes I do," Lana said. She lowered her arm and finally focused on him. "Lex told me all about the future. I'm surprised your little future girl didn't tell you about his great society she's trying to destroy. I know what's going to happen. I'm going to make the world a better place."

"Lex is lying!" Clark yelled. "The future isn't good. That's why Lois came back! She's trying to fix it and you're not helping!"

"I'm not giving this up, Clark," Lana said. "This power is mine."

"Lex is just going to use that power against you and everyone else," Clark said.

Lana shook her head. "Lex isn't always the bad guy you make him out to be. At least he has plans. He knows what to do in order to secure the future. I can help him, now. Nothing can hurt me."

"You need to be careful about Lex--"

"We're equals now, Clark," Lana snapped. "You don't get to say what I do. I'm going to make my own decisions."

"And that means you're siding with Luthor?" Lois spoke up.

"Yes, I am," Lana said, straightening up proudly.

"Clark," Lois said. She pulled out the gun that would remove the suit. "She's not backing down. I'm getting that suit off of her."

Clark's eyes widened but then he nodded very slightly.

He stepped aside and Lois raised the gun to Lana. Lana was examining her hands again, flexing them and smiling. Lois wasn't sure how this was supposed to work, but she braced herself and pulled the trigger. Instead of firing a bullet, the gun sent out some sort of electric-blue net that moved faster than Lana could, even though she tried to escape. It hit the walls and moved inward quickly, going easily through solid objects. It ensnared Lana, who fought in vain against it. She glowed electric-blue as the net condensed and dissolved into her.

Lana's back arched and she screamed primally.

*******

AN: I know Lois just did a lot of listening to people in this chapter. She can't change the fact that this stuff happened. Lots of plot. Should be more action coming up!

The following chapter should theoretically be "Requiem," but this has turned so much that I should be able to wrap up the past/future story lines and take care of Lana and Lex in a different way. It should only take a few days, we're getting to the good part that has very little to do with the stupid stuff that actually happened on the show! Reviews are loved! Please!


	7. Ditch the Requiem

**AN: **Ok, here it is, what happens after my version of 'Power.' I wouldn't say it's 'Requiem,' since the actual events from that episode don't really happen, it's just a good way to break up the end of LL and LL. Enjoy!

***************

**Chapter Seven: Ditch the Requiem**

"_In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing." _ ~Robert Ingersoll

"_What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."_ ~Oscar Wilde

"_The time is always right to do what is right."_ ~Martin Luther King Jr.

*********

Lana lay on the floor screaming as flashes of blue electricity flickered across her skin. Lois put the gun back in her purse slowly; making sure that the suit had been removed. Clark took a step towards Lana uncertainly. He looked back at Lois and their eyes met with an understanding. Before they could do anything else the door to the lab burst open and Lex Luthor from the future ran into the room.

"Lana!" he yelled as he ran to her side. He took her in his arms, ignoring how the electricity sometimes transferred to his own skin. He caressed her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face and inspecting the damage from the gun.

Clark finally found the ability to move forward to Lana's other side. Lois walked forward a bit as well, hovering a few feet away from Lana and the two men. She could finally see the full effect of the removal of the suit. Lana's skin was raw and red. It looked like every vein and capillary was glowing a bright electric blue. She barely looked human. Her breathing was ragged, but she seemed to know where she was. Her eyes were wide with pain and she squeezed them shut every few seconds. When she did, her veins glowed brighter.

"Lex?" Lana said groggily. "Lex, it hurts."

"Where?" Luthor said, trying to draw her closer to him.

It would have been sweet if it hadn't been future Luthor and Lana.

"Everywhere," Lana choked. She began to cry. "I can't feel the power anymore. The suit must be gone."

"We'll fix that, we'll fix everything," Luthor said.

"Lana, can you still move?" Clark said. He took the hand that Luthor wasn't holding. Lana didn't seem to have the strength to pull away from him, but she didn't look pleased that he held her hand. Clark noticed this and his face fell.

"I can move," Lana said. "But I want that suit back. I need it back. Lex, we can get it back, can't we? I don't want to go on without it."

"We'll run some tests to see if it will still work," Luthor said. "But hopefully everything will check out and we can get it back for you."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lois spoke up.

Luthor finally turned his attention on her. "You could have killed her! Playing around with technology from the future that you don't even understand. Are you really that selfish?"

"If I'm from the future too, how am I not fit to handle future technology?" Lois said. "I came back for a reason, Luthor, you came back by accident. Which one of us is selfish in trying to affect the future? This had to happen. Our future is wrong."

"How can our future be wrong if it happened?" Luthor shot back. "The future is whatever we make it to be. I have the power to make the future greater than anything else we've ever known. Just because you're on the losing side you think you're justified."

"You're wrong. I won't be losing this time. I've already made sure of that," Lois said.

Luthor shook his head. "You can't honestly think this little delay will stop me for good. After all I've done in order to keep the future my way? Lana will get the suit back. Things will work out my way."

"You've gone too far this time, Lex," Clark said suddenly. "This has to stop."

"Decided to speak up, have you?" Luthor said. "I thought Lois here was calling all the shots. After all, it's not like either one of you can stop me in the future, either. Clark's not even around, or have you not told him that?"

"Only because of what you and Lana did to him," Lois said. "What did you do to him anyway?"

Luthor smiled evilly. "Lana sweet-talked him into a nice big Kryptonite cage. It's encased in lead a mile underground. He might still be alive down there. I should check when I get back." Clark glared at him but Luthor just continued smiling. "Necessary precaution, you know."

Lois shook her head. "I can't understand you. I never could fathom the steps you took."

"And that's why you will always fail against me," Luthor said. "The future will be the same. I will make sure of that. I can still set everything back. I will be getting my ending." He pulled a gun out of his jacket and trained it on Lois. "No Lois Lane in the future should help."

"Lex!" Lana called out. "I can't see! Oh my God, I can't see!"

Luthor lowered the gun and turned back to Lana. "It's ok, Lana, it will be alright."

"I don't want to be just alright," Lana cried. "I want the suit! I want the power! You promised it to me! This is my destiny! I want the future you told me about!"

Lois could only believe what Lana was saying because she had gotten so used to knowing what had to be done about her. Lois glanced at Clark, knowing this was convincing Clark to fully be on her side.

Clark finally dropped Lana's hand as he put his hand in his pocket. "Here," he held out the Phantom Zone crystal. Lois quickly looked in her purse to check, and sure enough, Clark had taken the crystal from her without her even noticing. "This will help her." He tried to give it to Lana but Luthor took it from him roughly.

"You aren't needed here," Luthor said sharply. Clark nodded and took a step away to stand beside Lois. "Lana, just relax. This is Kryptonian, it will help."

Luthor held the crystal in his hand and moved Lana's hand on top of it. Lois took a deep breath, hardly able to believe how perfectly this had worked out. Clark squeezed her hand as the crystal started to glow. For an instant she thought he would continue to hold her hand, but he dropped it quickly.

"Lex…I can feel the power," Lana said with awe.

"All for us," Luthor said.

The crystal glowed even brighter and the room began to shake. Luthor looked around, finally noticing that something was off, and his eyes focused on Lois. She smiled and waved as the light from the crystal filled the room.

"No!" Luthor managed to yell before he and Lana vanished from sight.

The familiar square crystal began to fly through the air instead, heading for the exit out of the lab. It flipped a few times as it left, revealing the future Lex Luthor on one side and Lana Lang on the other.

Lois could hardly believe it. They were gone. They were headed for the Phantom Zone. Jor-El's plan had actually worked. She had done what she had come to do. Lana wouldn't negatively affect Clark and Luthor wouldn't be in the future when she returned there. She couldn't keep from grinning. She looked at Clark and then wished she hadn't. He was still staring at the spot where Lana and Luthor had vanished. The crystal was resting on the floor.

"Clark?" she said softly.

"They're gone," he said. "Just like that. It's so easy."

He glanced around the lab, suddenly looking like a caged animal. "I need to get some air."

He raced out of the lab without another word. Lois rolled her eyes. How very typical. She walked over to the crystal, but she wasn't ready to head back to the future quite yet. A stack of papers was sitting on top of a desk. She grabbed a paper and used it to pick up the crystal and drop it quickly in her purse. She wanted to make sure Clark and young Lois were ok now before she touched the crystal herself and found out what had changed eleven years from now.

With that in mind, Lois headed back to the Daily Planet by catching a cab outside the lab. She found her younger self in the bullpen. Young Lois was finishing the end of what sounded like an irritating conversation with a source.

"No, I don't think this will help your business either," young Lois yelled into the phone. "Oh yeah? Not if I see you there first!" She hung up the phone angrily and swiveled to face Lois. "Well?"

"It worked," Lois said, grinning. "Took care of Lana and future Luthor. They won't be bothering us again."

"Great," young Lois sighed. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. What was Clark's reaction?"

"Actually, that's part of why I'm here," Lois said. She looked around the bullpen. "If Clark said he needed to get some air, where would he go?"

Young Lois thought for only a second. "The roof."

Lois followed her younger self to the elevator, which they took to the top of the building. Lois filled young Lois in on exactly what had happened at the lab, leaving out the parts about Clark's powers. Young Lois readily agreed that the Phantom Zone seemed like a lovely vacation spot for Lana and Luthor, especially with as close as they were sounding.

Sure enough, when they stepped out on the roof, Clark was standing a couple steps away from the ledge looking over the city. Young Lois took a couple steps toward him before she turned suddenly to Lois. She brushed a hand through her hair awkwardly.

"I think you should talk to him first," she said.

Lois nodded and joined Clark. He glanced at her but then continued to watch the beginning of the sunrise.

"For a second, when she had that suit and was talking about the power, I had hope for her," he said quietly. "I knew it was wrong, but a part of me felt that maybe she was more like me now and maybe that would mean she wouldn't be so much of a distraction. She could be a partner and make the world a better place. But then she kept talking and I knew, I knew that she was only interested in her own gains. I knew what I had to do."

"It must have been tough to see that," Lois said.

"It was," Clark said. "I needed to see it, though. And when I did, that hope went away and I knew that I'd been over her for a long time. It was easier than I thought it would be. I knew that we had really gone our separate ways. I knew that I needed to keep her and Luthor from destroying the future. I couldn't let them succeed again."

"I'm sorry it had to come to such drastic measures," Lois said. "But coming from my perspective, I'm just glad everything worked out."

"You saved me," Clark said. He turned to look at her, his eyes full of gratitude. "You came back to save me and the world. That's amazing. You did it."

"It's like I said, Smallville, that's what I'm here for, one save at a time," Lois punched his shoulder lightly for emphasis.

"I know this sounds crazy, but what am I going to do when you go back to your time?" Clark said after a moment.

"Luckily," Lois said with a slight chuckle. "There's another Lois Lane right back there by the door. And she doesn't have the scars of an extra eleven years."

"I'd gotten used to you knowing my secret. It's going to be different now," Clark said. He turned back to the city, unable to look at her.

"Clark," Lois said seriously. "You can tell your Lois your secret any time you want. You don't have to rush it, but you don't have to worry about how she'll handle it. She's in me, but she also has the ability to be so much more than I am. You both will have a better future now. Things can develop how you want them to be. You still have that power. I came back to make sure my future didn't happen the same way, but the future still happens in some way."

"I know, it just felt good to work with you," Clark said.

"She doesn't have to know everything about you in order for her to help you, Clark," Lois said. "You don't have to have someone that can do everything that you can do. Lois may not have superpowers, but she can still help you. Didn't I show you that? You're not alone, Clark. You don't need to worry about that. You have so much capacity to include people in your life; don't limit yourself by thinking that you can't have a life. If you want someone to share your life, well, I know her, and she's not going anywhere." She winked at him and he managed to smile.

"See, how will I know what can happen without the wisdom of the future?" he joked.

"Listen to Jor-El," Lois advised. "He knows so many things. He's the reason all of this was even possible."

"I know, I know, it's the listen to your parents speech," Clark laughed. "Same old Lois. Anything else I should know specifically?"

Lois thought for a moment, rubbing her left hand. "Don't screw up this second chance, Smallville. It took me eleven years before I had the chance to fix this whole mess. Let's have a good timeline, instead."

Clark smiled at her, "It's a deal. I'll be around eleven years from now." He paused, looking like he wanted to say more, but then just shook his head slightly. "Are you heading back now?"

"I just need to talk to myself over there," Lois pointed at young Lois by the door. "To make sure the wisdom of the future takes root."

She left Clark at the ledge and pulled young Lois to the side a bit. She knew Clark could hear her no matter how far away she moved, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. "Now, I'm not going to go all Maxima-weird on you, but there are a few things you should know."

"Aren't you messing with the space-time continuum if you do that?" young Lois said.

"No one seems to get that I came back here with every intention of messing with the space-time continuum," Lois said grumpily. "But really, there are some things you should find out for yourself and other things that I would prefer not to have to live with in the future."

Young Lois shrugged. "Ok, but if you start talking about special connections between me and Clark, I'm outta here."

"Relax," Lois said with a touch of humor. "You can convince yourself of those signs without my help." At the look on young Lois' face she proceeded quickly. "Ok, ok. Uh, let's see, oh yeah, that guy from the Sports section, how about we don't go out with him to make someone else jealous? It's just a bad idea. Not doing it would make our life better."

"This is just another fortune telling," young Lois grumbled.

"You mean the flying tights guy?" Lois asked. Young Lois nodded while rolling her eyes and Lois noticed Clark still looking out over the city. Didn't Jor-El say something about how he was supposed to be able to fly one day? "I don't know if I'd dismiss him entirely. He might not be quite what we expect."

"Ooook," young Lois said. "Anything else?"

"I know we don't do patience very well, but a little bit could pay off in the long run," Lois said. "Just trust your gut. You know what I'm talking about."

Young Lois glanced at Clark and then at Lois. "I know what you're talking about. Are you sure, though?" she said quietly.

Lois nodded, "In my old future he hasn't been around for a while. I feel it every day. I miss him every day. I'm not saying that anything specific has to happen, but I recommend that you don't shut down your feelings. This is different."

"We'll see what happens," young Lois said, glancing nervously at Clark again.

Lois smiled and she and young Lois walked back to Clark. "All right kids, let's get this show on the road."

"What happens now?" young Lois blurted out. "I mean, with them gone?"

"Well, since Tess was being controlled by future Luthor, I'm pretty sure there's no deal to merge Queen Industries and LutherCorp. Which means the board won't be blown up," Lois said.

"What?" Clark said.

"Exactly, see how crazy my timeline was?" Lois said. "It's all different now, basically. I can't tell what will happen now. That's the exciting part for you guys."

Clark and young Lois stood next to each other. As strange as it still was for her to see a younger version of herself, Lois still had to admit that she liked how well they looked together. She felt herself tearing up and she hastily brushed at her eyes. "Well, this has definitely been strange. I'll let you two get back to your regularly scheduled lives now."

"Thank you, for everything," young Lois said. She pulled Lois into a quick hug. "I'm still not exactly sure what you've saved us from, but it still feels good to know that things will be better."

"Yeah, thank you," Clark said seriously. He also pulled Lois into a hug. She held onto him for a moment longer than she normally would have. After all, she had no idea what the future would bring. "I'll see you in the future," Clark added as he released her.

"You better," Lois said. She unzipped her purse and could see the crystal inside. "Luthor was right about one thing, though, the future is what you make it."

She grabbed the crystal and drew her hand out of the purse. The crystal began to glow.

"Bye," Clark and young Lois said as they took a step back.

"One-point-twenty-one gigawatts," Lois muttered. "Beam me up, Scotty."

The scene in front of her was fading before her. She smiled at young Lois before her eyes locked with Clark's. As the past vanished in front of her, she was becoming more and more scared about what the future would bring. Clark smiled at her, trying to reassure her even as everything faded around her. She almost tried to reach out and touch him, but held back. She didn't know what she would do if he wasn't there in the future. She had done everything to save him. He had to be alive, right?

Lois was moving off the roof of the Daily Planet into the air. She took a deep breath as the figures of young Lois and Clark against the sunrise dissolved completely into black. She suddenly felt the strange goo surrounding around her on all sides. She pushed against it, fighting her way forward to the future.

The goo released her just as suddenly as it had taken her. She was still in the sky, though, and she was falling. She could see a plane above her and assumed that she had fallen from it.

So this was how the adventures of Lois Lane would end? Falling from an airplane to her death? After everything she had been through? She had just changed the whole past, hadn't she? Had things really turned out better? She couldn't believe it. The plane was getting smaller and she dreaded a gust of wind that would make her see just how close the ground was getting. She didn't think she could possibly survive this.

Except that someone caught her…

*********

AN: Dun dun dun! One more chapter should wrap up this time-travel fest! Seriously, reviews get me through my otherwise mundane existence! Thank you all for your reading!


	8. Back to the Future

AN: Here it is! The last chapter of the saga! Enjoy! Mostly fluff

*********

**Chapter Eight: Back to the Future**

"_Love is everything it's cracked up to be…It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for." _~Eric Jong

"_The best way to predict the future is to invent it." ~_Alan Kay

"_We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch." _~John F. Kennedy

*********

The blue suit, stretched tight across well-toned muscles. The red S snaking over his broad chest. The red cape billowing out behind him as they flew. Her arms had wrapped automatically around his neck when he caught her and they remained there securely as he carried her through the air. This was normal. This was safe. Oh yes, Lois definitely knew who had saved her.

"Clark," she breathed. She grabbed his face with both hands and pulled him to her in a passionate kiss.

"Lois," Clark said when she had finally released him. "Are you alright? What were you thinking going after that big airport security story without me?"

"Yes, Clark, I'm fine," Lois said. She stroked his cheek and then pulled him back in for another kiss.

"I'm glad to see you too," Clark said. A huge grin stretched across his face. "I'm not complaining or anything with this warm reception, but we've been working for years on calling me 'Superman' in these situations."

Lois was much too excited to listen to him about this again. "Clark, it happened. It finally happened!"

"What happened?" Clark said, focusing on her even as he flew.

"Remember when you first told me about your powers?" Lois said.

"How could I forget?" Clark chuckled. "I've never seen you rotate between so many emotions so fast."

"I had good reason too, Superman," Lois exaggerated the last word. "No, but do you remember when we went to talk to Jor-El? We asked him about how I had managed to travel through time?"

"I remember," Clark said, nodding. "After I told you about who I was you had so many questions. You immediately asked if Lois from the future had known my secret when she came back. And when we went to Jor-El you asked him about that first and he told us about the portal."

"Of course I asked him about that first, it had to do with me," Lois said. "That was only about a year after I…she had come back. That made a big difference in our lives. Do you remember what Jor-El told me about my memories?"

"He said that you wouldn't remember the alternate future until the moment when future Lois would have returned to the future, or something like that," Clark said. "Basically eleven years from when she came to us in the past you would get the memories from her timeline."

"It's been about eleven years. During that fall from the plane, Clark," Lois said. "I got those memories!"

"You did?" Clark said. He lowered them onto the roof of the nearest building and took a step back from her, looking over her carefully. She knew he was using his x-ray vision but she didn't let go of his upper arms. "You don't look any different. Do you feel any different?"

"Superman," Lois said sternly, knowing he had gone into his over-protective mode. "I'm fine. Seriously. I just have all these different memories in my head now. It's a bit overwhelming actually."

Clark wrapped his arms around her but left enough space so that they could still look at each other and talk. "What's it like? What do you remember?"

"Bits and pieces, for the most part," Lois said. "Only fragments of an alternate eleven years. I still remember more from our real life together, of course." Lois suddenly looked at her left hand. She examined all five of her fingers. "Do you remember? She was missing the pinky on her left hand."

"How could I forget?" Clark said. "You've taken so much care during the years to make sure you didn't lose that." He took her hand in his and matched each of his fingers to hers. Then he twirled the wedding band on her ring finger. "I like your hand just the way it is."

"Me too," Lois said with a smile. "Wow, Clark, all these other memories are crazy. I can't believe some of this. Almost everyone was dead or missing. I worked at an underground newspaper and had to run from these Enforcer squads. Lex Luthor was president. I had this nasty little apartment on the edge of the city. There are a lot of disjointed chases. Some truly awful hiding places. Oh, god, bodies in a sewer," Lois rubbed her forehead and grimaced. "And you weren't there."

"That's why you went back in time," Clark said gently. "You fixed all of that. Without you, none of what we have now would have happened. Our marriage, the kids, the lives of our friends…all of that would have been lost."

"Everything is so empty in that timeline," Lois said quietly. "There's no you. There's no us. I wasn't even thinking about the possibility of having Jonathan or Jane. It's so different."

Clark's face had that look where he wished he could do something to fix her pain. "I can't even imagine what that would be like. At least now you know why she came back. I mean, really know."

"She made all of what we have possible," Lois said. "It's strange, though, even with her memories, I'm still not exactly like her."

"Of course you're not," Clark said easily. "You're my Lois. She may have had your memories and a lot of your personality, but you're not her. Your experiences made you different. You're my wife and the mother of my children, Lois. No one else is."

Lois was touched by his sincerity. Even after all these years and all they had been through, his love for her could sometimes catch her off-guard. "So you don't want me to adopt that whole 'survive at all costs' mentality? I shouldn't try and get weird powers?"

"Definitely not," Clark said. "Lois Lane-Kent doesn't need superpowers to be awesome."

Lois laughed at this and let him pull her close to him again.

"Just imagine what would have happened if she hadn't come back," Lois said from his shoulder.

"It would be what your new memories are," Clark said. "I can only imagine that world. She told me a little bit about it, but you have it all now."

His cape flapped in the wind around them on the roof. "A world without Superman," Lois said. "Now that's a terrible thought."

Clark chuckled. "But not surprising if there isn't an us."

Lois pulled back out of his arms. "If you're gonna start talking like that, we should get off of this roof where anyone can see what I'm going to do to you."

Clark's eyebrow rose. "That's true. We wouldn't want Superman's image disturbed by a roof-top liaison."

"Superman?" Lois scoffed. "What about me? I'm a married woman!"

"I'm Superman!" Clark said. "People trust me to stand for truth and justice. I've got a whole moral code."

"So do I," Lois said. "I don't need my reputation tarnished because I'm suddenly an adulteress with a thing for capes and tights. Try and explain all the terrible things that people would say about mommy to the kids. Plus, Chloe and Oliver would never stop laughing at us. People trust me to provide them with news and investigative journalism of the highest caliber."

"They trust me to do that, too," Clark said with a grin. "Whose name is next to yours on many of those stories?"

"It certainly isn't yours, Superman," Lois said with a twinkle in her eye as she poked him in the middle of the S on his chest.

"Then who is the lucky guy?" Clark said, his eyes also sparkling.

"That would be my amazingly handsome husband," Lois said. "And you had better bring me to him pronto, Superman, because we're going to be late for picking the kids up at school. I'm taking my wonderful family out to dinner tonight to celebrate me having all ten fingers."

Clark laughed and picked her back up in his arms before taking flight again. "That sounds like a great thing to celebrate. Did you take the car to the airport?"

"No, I left the car at the Planet," Lois said. "I took a cab so you could use the car if you needed it."

"Even though I don't really need it," Clark said.

"I don't know how you would pick up the kids without it," Lois pointed out. "If I had been running late I would like to think their school wouldn't let you carry them off in a blur."

"I don't think they could stop me," Clark said as he landed on the roof of the Daily Planet and set her down carefully. "It's just a public school." He did his super-spin-change and emerged in the work suit he had worn that day.

"Well, let's just hope that no other Kryptonian comes along and tries to haul our children away, Clark," Lois said. She reached up and adjusted his tie slightly before kissing him again.

Somewhere at the very beginning of her relationships with Superman and Clark they had gotten into the habit of kissing on the roof of the Daily Planet. When they had arguments they yelled and talked them out on the roof and wouldn't leave until they had been able to make up and make out. Depending on Clark's mood as Superman, and depending on how harrowing his rescue of her had been, her kisses from Superman would either be on the cheek or intensely passionate full on smooches. The roof was their place. It was usually the first place they looked for the other one. They were usually undisturbed as they looked out over the city. From up there, Metropolis was theirs and they were each other's.

"Lois, are you sure that you're alright?" Clark said. "You just got a major download of information."

"And it's still processing," Lois said. "I'll be fine, Smallville. Just a weird set of memories. They might as well be dreams."

"I didn't think about that," Clark said, looking worried. "You're going to have all sorts of terrible nightmares now."

"I've gone through plenty of real things that produce nightmares," Lois said with a sigh. "It's not like you have to worry about me killing you in your sleep as I battle off alternate reality bad guys."

Clark smirked but didn't look convinced.

Lois moved to the door but then turned around and placed her fully intact left hand lightly on his chest. Her wedding band glinted as the sun hit it. "Tell you what, I'll guarantee you that I'll be so exhausted tonight that I'll sleep so deep and I won't even dream." Her smile and mischievous look in her eyes made it perfectly clear to her husband what she meant.

"Well," Clark smiled and nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose that would make me feel better about whether you would kill me while I slept."

"Good," Lois said and winked. "Because I intend to remind myself very fully that you exist in this timeline."

"Oooo," Clark said. "You know, I have been thinking that it might be time for another addition to our family…"

Lois' response was to capture his mouth with hers again. Her fingers speared through his hair and he wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled her close. She may have had the memories from Future Lois, but she still couldn't really believe that she could have lived eleven years without these moments, without Clark.

He was the man who made up her world and she was the woman who had saved his.

**The End**

*****************

Author's Note:

That's right, the roof belongs to Clark and Lois! No one else! Sorry, that was just a major annoyance during Lana arc.

That's all folks! Thank you all for reading! An especially big thanks to those of you who reviewed and kept me slogging away at this *better* version of "Bride" through "Requiem." I needed to do this to shake off the bad taste Lana left and I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward the return of Lois Lane on March 12th with "Infamous!!!!!" It looks like it's going to be AWESOME! Shameless plug now for the rest of my stories: I'm particularly proud of Distraction and Noticing You Two, just if you're in the mood for some more Clois fun! Clois forever!

Reviews are loved!


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